I had just fired up the grill and was getting ready to put on some pork steaks when I got a call from one of my neighbors. They have a large dry pond in front of their house and there was a deer laying in it, not moving, but still alive. The vultures were already checking it out. I told them I would come and check it out and if needed take care of it.
Sure enough, the doe, a 1 1/2 yr old, was curled up with its head down looking my direction when I pulled up. Scanned it with the binoculars. Couldn't see any obvious injury and it wasn't sickly looking. In fact, looked quite healthy other than it wasn't moving. Talked to them and decided I would grab the bow and see what happened when I got closer, might be able to see the other side if there is an injury on that side.
As I walked closer, to within 20 yards, the deer tried twice to get up but had virtually no control over its legs. All 4 would just flail about and it couldn't hold its head up either. Again, still no sign of any obvious injury and the deer looked quite healthy.
I decided that it would be best to take care of it, so one shot with the bow and it was dead quickly. When I got to the deer finally, I rolled it over and still no sign of injury. I felt the legs, nothing broke. I checked down the spine, still no injury. But I did notice this spot on the deers neck.
It was a perfectly round hole through the skin with two parallel marks, one on each side of that hold. The hole would have been the right size for a 9mm. The owner had told me that last year they found a dead deer in their yard that had been shot with a 9mm so I suspected that might have been the case again.
Got the doe home and started breaking her down. Again, she was healthy as could be. When I skinned out the neck, there was no hole or bullet in the neck but there was about an 8" section that was bloodshot on both sides, skip about 2 inches, then another section that was bloodshot, looking like the deer must have been hit by something perhaps a car, and that the marks on the skin might be from whatever hit her. It is also a possibility she could have gotten her head stuck in a fence or gate perhaps.
Either way, I felt the best thing to do was to take care of her so the coyotes or dogs wouldn't tear her apart while still alive. She's now broken down and on ice to be processed over the next couple of days.
And for those wondering, I just tagged her as part of my regular season. I have only burnt 1 doe tag so far during archery so I had more for this unit.
Sure enough, the doe, a 1 1/2 yr old, was curled up with its head down looking my direction when I pulled up. Scanned it with the binoculars. Couldn't see any obvious injury and it wasn't sickly looking. In fact, looked quite healthy other than it wasn't moving. Talked to them and decided I would grab the bow and see what happened when I got closer, might be able to see the other side if there is an injury on that side.
As I walked closer, to within 20 yards, the deer tried twice to get up but had virtually no control over its legs. All 4 would just flail about and it couldn't hold its head up either. Again, still no sign of any obvious injury and the deer looked quite healthy.
I decided that it would be best to take care of it, so one shot with the bow and it was dead quickly. When I got to the deer finally, I rolled it over and still no sign of injury. I felt the legs, nothing broke. I checked down the spine, still no injury. But I did notice this spot on the deers neck.
It was a perfectly round hole through the skin with two parallel marks, one on each side of that hold. The hole would have been the right size for a 9mm. The owner had told me that last year they found a dead deer in their yard that had been shot with a 9mm so I suspected that might have been the case again.
Got the doe home and started breaking her down. Again, she was healthy as could be. When I skinned out the neck, there was no hole or bullet in the neck but there was about an 8" section that was bloodshot on both sides, skip about 2 inches, then another section that was bloodshot, looking like the deer must have been hit by something perhaps a car, and that the marks on the skin might be from whatever hit her. It is also a possibility she could have gotten her head stuck in a fence or gate perhaps.
Either way, I felt the best thing to do was to take care of her so the coyotes or dogs wouldn't tear her apart while still alive. She's now broken down and on ice to be processed over the next couple of days.
And for those wondering, I just tagged her as part of my regular season. I have only burnt 1 doe tag so far during archery so I had more for this unit.
