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Winter casualty

Was out in the snow today and followed some coyote tracks to the remains of a pretty good buck. He was about 50 yds from the stand I used last season. Will have to go back after the snow melts to see what might have killed him. I think it was too fresh to have been a late season wounded loss.

Winter and yotes get a few. Just a part of the circle of nature.

Might be a rough winter for bucks. All that doe chasing and no acorns.

Make sure you get a "find" tag from NRP to be legal to keep the skull and antlers. It was probably killed by something or had a wound that had weakened it. It's a little early for true winter mortality. They usually don't start showing up until late Feb. or March. I know we had a mast shortage but Dec. was unusually warm so they didn't have to use up much fat and body reserves to survive.

Waiting on the local CO to call back, said they issue a "non game" tag like they would for roadkill. There wasn't much left but bones, so I'll probably never know what happpened. There are plenty of coyotes and a few free range dogs around. I know some of the bigger bucks around here were pretty thin after the rut. I hope there aren't many more or I'll be doe hunting again this year.

Yeah, to lose one like that hurts.

Just by looking at thats deers antlers it looks like that deer died of cornocopia. It's happens to deer when they eat corn the lil old lady threw out for the squirrels. Seems after Dec 31 the deer have an enzyme in their stomach that causes them to not be able to digest corn. They can digest it between sept and jan which is why they visit the deer feeders a lot. after that it usually kills em. This is why we shouldn't feed the deer corn. Plus it causes CWD in the counties in the eastern most part of the state. Deer west of the eastern panhandle are immuned to it. Which is why hunters can't feed deer in the eastern panhandle.

I've also heard trout can't digest corn. Anything that can digest a crawdad should be able to digest corn. I suspect he may have died from femoral canitis. That's where coyotes grab them by the back legs.

Lol

Deer can die from corn. A deer has 4 stomachs. They need to have the right bacteria and enough of the bacteria in its stomach to be able to digest corn.

A deer that has never eaten corn can eat a stomach full of corn in the winter and die of starvation with its stomach full of corn simply because it lacks the bacteria to break it down and digest it.

HOWEVER, with the possible exception of a few places like the middle of Cranberrry(and I'm not so sure about that) most deer in WV have been eating corn all fall and their stomaches have the bacteria and ability to digest corn.

Your last sentence says it all gobbler

I think the bigger problem with feeding in my area is that all of a sudden in january, everyone's feeder batteries die and their 4wheeler can no longer haul corn. Seems like deer take a while to adjust their feeding habits as well as the bacteria needed to digest browse. I'm not convinced supplmental feeding helps more than it hurts. I don't always feed in the winter, but when I do I don't stop until green up.

And I can't remember the last time I gutted a deer that wasn't eating corn from somewhere

A good rechargeable and a solar panel will last years. There's a big difference between feeding and baiting. Baiting usually lasts until the baiter finishes killing deer. Feeding is often a long term venture.

What do you guys recommend be put out for deer at this time of year?

Everything I read says brush and briars are preferered. I use whole corn for the little group near the house. The squirrels and doves eat their shares to. They normally wait until about March to wipe out our blackberries and fruit trees.

We cant put anything out here. It causes CWD.

I would guess it died from lead poisoning. Bullets are still made from lead I am sure.

Can't use them everywhere. When I killed my big Muley in AZ I had to use pure copper bullets. Too many California Condors getting lead poisoning from eating gut piles. They even sent me a coupon for a free box of pure copper bullets from Cabelas. I got Barnes triple-shock. Actually a really good bullet.

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