Mystery Lump on Buck

[bigbendmarine]

Walked up on a small buck in one of my plots yesterday that has a lump on the side of its head. Looking online the lump looks very similar to lumps caused by arterial worms but it also looks like most arterial worm lumps occur in the jaw area.

Anybody ever seen a similar lump in the same spot (between eye and ear) before? For whatever it's worth the buck looked otherwise healthy, was actively feeding, alert, and didn't appear to be in any significant pain. At least for the moment, it didn't appear I needed to harvest it to "put it out of its misery." That said, if I know with certainty that it's going to significantly suffer I would likely harvest it (if safe to eat) or simply put it down (if not safe to eat).

Very curious to see if anyone is confident on an answer... holding off on sharing on any other forums / facebook pages because know I'll get a slew of crazy W.A.G.s and immediate responses to put it down even from those who have no clue what might be the cause.

 

[Turkey Creek]

More than likely a puss pocket from a puncture wound. Sometimes they recover, sometimes they dont.

 

[Bill]

Not fibromatosis that usually present as a black lump. I have some of that around.

Could be puss. They can get bacteria caused cranial abscesses but I think thats more internal.
Also look at Peruke. fast crazy antler growth. Maybe its under the hide? I don't have a definite answer???

 

[FarmerDan]

Maybe arterial worms?

From the article at the link below....
http://www.wideopenspaces.com/whitetail-deer-diseases/

Arterial worms: These white round worms live in the arteries of the whitetail deer. Horsefly bites are how a deer contracts the parasite. A deer’s health can be impacted by the worm taking residence in bone structures causing bone deformities and resulting infections. The jaw tends to be the area most commonly affected. Swelling in this area can lead to food being trapped below the tongue which can lead to tooth loss and secondary infections. Deer infected with arterial worms are still safe to eat.



Or, maybe not....

 

[bigbendmarine]

More I look at the pictures, looks like there might be a small quarter sized hairless patch around an even darker wound / hole. 3rd and 4th pictures down in my original post are the ones I think *may* show something. Think I'll just keep an eye out for the buck and if I see it again gauge if it's improving / stable / declining and go from there. Do much appreciate the ideas shared.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

The deer looks like it's pretty thin around it's back third. It seems gaunt around the front of it's hind quarters. Hind quarter in pic #2 isn't very filled out. I don't know if arterial worms would cause weight loss due to problems chewing food, etc. or not. It just seems too thin to be healthy. Infection ?? Tumor ??

 

[bigbendmarine]

Snuck a few hours in the stand yesterday and saw him again... believe the update points toward Turkey Creek's guess on it being a war wound.

Reason I say that is that it no longer looks like a baseball-sized knot, but instead the pictures revealed a triangular shaped wound with a fair sized flap hanging down from the corner of the wound. Looks like its sparring contest bought him a sore eye as well.

Be interesting to see how he fares. Know he looks thin, but think that's more from young age than anything. Behavior as I've watched seems quite normal... eating without any issue, keeping a 2.5 year old 9 point company, and he's staying appropriately alert... if anything he seems to be acting a little bit over alert, which I might do too if I had a flap hanging off the side of my head and lots of other fellas running around wanting to poke me in that exact spot.