Diseased Deer
Whitetail Deer
Over the holidays I hunted in South Carolina. I shot a 3 1/2 year old 7 point. He had some type of cyst on the outside of his rib cage about the size of a golf ball. When I opened him up after skinning, he really stunk. When I cut the diaphragm, both lungs were cemented to the rib cage with this yellow puss like stuff. The yellow puss was all through the chest cavity. The abdominal cavity also had a yellowish tint to it.
Well, I'm not that hungry or willing to take the chance that the deer was ok to eat. Thank God that I wear exam gloves while I field dress and skin. I took the horns and scrapped the rest of the deer.
I've never seen or heard of anything like this. I googled the issue and found some similar stories. Interestingly, they were from right across the SC/Georgia line from where I was. No definitive identification of the issue. Any ideas about what this is?
You should get a biologist from the wildlife department to come take a look & maybe take some samples for testing.
I looked at pictures of Bovine TB, and it didn't look like that. Thank God. Humans can catch that stuff. It's a little late for the game officers, but they can fetch it out of the gut pile if they'd like too. Tags are not much of an issue in that part of the state. I didn't come close to filling all of mine. So, burning one tag wasn't an issue.
EMB happened to me this year too. When I hit the Achilles what seemed like a gallon of yellow puss just oozed out like a mini volcano. It was gross!!!! One of my buddies was dry heaving.
Yep. It was just plain nasty. My friend came close to heaving and wouldn't touch it or the waste bucket even with the latex gloves I offered. He did, however, want to be sure that I wasn't going to try to eat it. He needn't have worried. I also sterilized all of the knives I used to that point.
I'd of taken it to the local bio to get tested to see if there is a bigger problem with your local deer herd.
I asked the landowner if he wanted me to do that, and he declined. I've been hunting that property for the last 20 years and the owner for probably the last 50. I've never seen anything like this, and he hasn't either. However, it wasn't my call.
The bio's should have done it for free. Did ya happen to get an pics of this deer?
No pictures taken. I could have but under the circumstances saw little point in doing so.
The scavengers have to eat as well so the meat is not really wasted.
I don't know why you said it wasn't your call. It was your deer and I would certainly have been looking to take it to the G&F or DNR or whatever you call them in your state for free testing that I'd bet they would have done.
30-06 said: “I don't know why you said it wasn't your call. It was your deer and I would certainly.....” - so, do I understand that after you were allowed to hunt a property for 20 years - you wouldn’t respect the landowner’s preference that you not call the G&F in this situation ??? If that’s the case & I were the landowner, it would be the last day you hunted my property. Just my 2 cents worth.
From: DaleT 02-Jan-18Private Reply 30-06 said: “I don't know why you said it wasn't your call. It was your deer and I would certainly.....” - so, do I understand that after you were allowed to hunt a property for 20 years - you wouldn’t respect the landowner’s preference that you not call the G&F in this situation ??? If that’s the case & I were the landowner, it would be the last day you hunted my property. Just my 2 cents worth.
For cripes sake man! Glad you're not the landowner with that piss poor attitude! My comment was for the good of the herd and the owner that I would do that. I doubt seriously if the owner knows that I was that concerned about the good of the herd, him, and his property that he would toss me off like you would. I'm glad it was just your two cents worth because that's all it was worth and you are really making a mountain out of a mole hill when all the others also said they would have done what I mentioned!
This is an interesting situation. On the lands I hunt the owners expect me to act in their and the animals best interest. I have been in contact with the state biologists many times over the years. I don't have all the answers bit I am not worried about asking questions. It is probably best you didn't try to consume the deer. If I understand correctly you used a tag. I think that is a personal decision that I applaud.
Sorry for the quality but this was shot at over 150-yards. Check the jaw on this lady.
I think this one swallowed a basketball.
I think these last two photos kinda substantiate my point. There is nothing in the original post describing the pathology of the thoracic cavity (yellow, foul smelling, puss like stuff) that would suggest the herd or the landowner has a problem. I would bet that if one lanced the swellings on deer in the above photos, you might very well encounter similar white or yellow, foul smelling, puss like stuff. There are numerous ways that foreign bodies (thorns, arrows), fighting wounds, etc. can produce these lesions (abscesses) in wild animals. To assume (especially with no training in animal pathology), that the lesion was reflective of something that is likely to endanger "the good of the herd and the owner" & THEN TO DISREGARD THE LANDOWNER'S REQUEST TO NOT INVOLVE THE F&G - is reminiscent of "the sky is falling" approach and certainly is "making a mountain out of a mole hill" - IMO. Again, just my 2 cents worth - which, I would add, has been pointed out as"...that's all it was worth".
From: DaleT 03-Jan-18 I think these last two photos kinda substantiate my point. There is nothing in the original post describing the pathology of the thoracic cavity (yellow, foul smelling, puss like stuff) that would suggest the herd or the landowner has a problem. I would bet that if one lanced the swellings on deer in the above photos, you might very well encounter similar white or yellow, foul smelling, puss like stuff. There are numerous ways that foreign bodies (thorns, arrows), fighting wounds, etc. can produce these lesions (abscesses) in wild animals. To assume (especially with no training in animal pathology), that the lesion was reflective of something that is likely to endanger "the good of the herd and the owner" & THEN TO DISREGARD THE LANDOWNER'S REQUEST TO NOT INVOLVE THE F&G - is reminiscent of "the sky is falling" approach and certainly is "making a mountain out of a mole hill" - IMO. Again, just my 2 cents worth - which, I would add, has been pointed out as"...that's all it was worth".
I didn't assume anything, but without even looking at the problem that the OP found how in the heck can you make that statement that it won't affect the herd? Answer is that you can't without at least submitting it for testing. CWD doesn't show it's ugly head until the animal is close to death or dies if it first doesn't die from another cause like a hunter or vehicle, so I guess you'd not want to investigate any animal that has something strange looking because "you don't want to make a mountain out of a mole hill for the landowner!"
Dale T is dead on. Can be many causes for swelling such as those. The doe I pictured had twin fawns and seemed to be doing just fine. So, she walked. Two-years ago, I killed one with a swelling that size in her jaw. It was the result of an acorn becoming lodged between her teeth and jaw skin. It had abscessed and she, was not doing well.
Boy, this went sideways in a hurry. When I first inspected the deer, I thought the cyst might be an old wound. There was another spot on the opposite side well back where I thought the ribs had been damaged. I didn't spend a lot of time trying to diagnose the issue once it was skinned and cleaned.
Of all of hundreds of deer killed on this farm over the years, this was one of kind. I would not have disregarded the landowner's wishes. He is also a very dear friend. He didn't think it that big of deal except to make sure that I didn't take it home and try to feed it to him later. I've been known to do that with the pigs he hates.
As an aside several years ago I shot a REALLY nice deer at 20 yds. I thought it was a good shot, but the deer apparently jumped the string. All I found of that deer was a an arrow broken off several inches behind the BH and some type of clear fluid. The next year the landowner called to tell me he had shot a REALLY nice deer. He recovered my 125 grn Steelforce BH from the backbone directly above and behind the shoulder. I told him he was welcome for the assist. When the deer was mounted, he made a necklace with the BH and hung it around its neck.
Deer do survive wounds, and this may just be a case in point. Thanks guys.
