Bestul, You should have never posted that photo! Now we're going to have every animal rights activist petitioning barbed wire fences!

Anyhow that is a sad sight to see.

Yep,you can hear all the food ploters in that area crying all the way over here in Michigan. Probably somebody poached him and when he didn't fall right away they lost intrest. Anybody have a strong enough stomach to roll him around and look for a hole??

Thats tough its a wonder how many great bucks live threw the season but don't live through the summer. I guess the odds are still stacked against them.

Cant tell from the picture for certain how the deer died,,But I dont think it was hit by a car. There is litle damage done to the carcas,,,from what I can see, one small nick in the right inside beam. And if he had been struck in the head,,,by a car which will stone a deer,,his rack would have been severly damaged.
Over the years I have freed many deer and found many dead hunt up in a barb wire fence. All had two things in commin for the most part.....Did this deer leave any struggle marks on the ground? Or are there any places on his legs where he may have been tangled in the wire? It could be sickness,,,but he doesnt look sick, most sick deer are emnacaped,,
I am more enclined to think he broke his neck on the fence...just my 2 cents worth!! Longbeards,,,West Virginia

Sure does not look like enough struggle marks for a healthy buck to be tangled to death. May have vehicle marks on the other side, but the velvet probably would not look as pretty as it does. Anybody hearing of any EHD/bluetongue outbreaks yet? Gnats, flies and mosquitos are the biggest cause of stress around here this time of the year.Had alot of rain this summer makeing alot of wet ground for the noseeums that carry the EHD. If its gonna break it should be anytime now. Last time we had it here was three years ago. All the mature bucks on one farm I hunt, that I had been watching in a bean feild all summer, died from it almost overnight. The older nurseing does seem to die from it the most.

We've had rocky mountain elk get caught up in our fence, but they seem to just rip it out of the ground. Never had one stuck in it. I watched it happen once. he was just eating and walking and his rack got caught in the wire, he spooked, lifted his head and the t-post came out of the ground. he stood there and shook it all out and went on his way.

I've seen quit a few deer that were hit and made it a ways before succombing to internal injury that is my guess. Note the bloated stomach, Many deer hit in the body bloat quickly. He appears to have died shortly after getting in the fence. If there had been a struggle the ground would likely show it. The grass looks fine in this pic. Rmember the story of the hole in the horn buck? He died just this way after a train knocked him into a chain link fence. Last fall I found a very nice 8 point with both back legs broken by a car. His photo is in my photofiles.

More of "The Wire."

It's a darned shame for what looks to my uneducated eye to be a potential monster, to die such an ignomious death... The trials and tribulations of being wild, never know what will get you.

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch™
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles: Sleeping Bag Care

Del in KS: That show was Randy Newberg's "On Your Own Adventures," and I was the dummy who missed the shot at the bull elk. Shot right under his brisket at about 350 yards. We have no idea who shot that other bull and left it lying in the grass.

I have looked at enough bucks like this. I would be rolling him over looking for a hole. Not enough damage to him for a struggle in a fence or a tangle with a car. I have seen to many of those. There is a trenendous market for velvet antlers . I have seen alot of deer that died from blue toungue and he does not appear to have any of those symtomns. Usually the ground is torn up under the fence when a deer is tangled in the fence.

You are right most have signs of hemorraging out of the mouth and nose and sometimes the eyes and they are close to water. I have seen some that look pretty nasty some time before they die and we have found several in one place. We found 19 in a very small area (200 yards) one time. That is the most that we have found in one place. I would be surprised if the buck in the picture had any signs. You have to examine pretty close when the deer looks this healthy. Sometimes in August when the hair is light on the skin you can almost see the veins come close to the skin. We have a bout with blue tounge about every 7 or 8 years it seams. The biologists can't really tell us why.

My encounter with barbed wire, as a civilian, cost me a patch or two on the waders.

This 10 pointer did not fare as well as I.