They're called cutaneous fibromas and are basically a harmless skin virus caused by certain biting insects, at least according to my Google-Fu skills.

The reason I know is because I had the same question earlier this year when the deer around my house started showing up with them. Must be a bad year for them because I don't recall seeing them in such numbers prior to this summer

you should just shoot the deer than you can tell what it is. but i would not eat the meat from it it might not be that good. but if you shoot it tell us what the hell it is on that deer.

My dad kept a pint jar of mineral oil and a paint brush in the barn. Every now and then, a horse would show up with a wart looking "thingie", especially around the nose. That horse was noted and an application of mineral oil twice a day to the affected area. Within a week or so, no more warts!
Don't ask me! I just brushed the mineral oil!
They look like some of the stuff I've seen on horses!

Bubba

I would not eat venison even slightly suspect of virus, communicable or not to humans.

For the same reason, I will not eat fish from CA lakes that have the lice. The State will tell you not to but persons of "average intelligence" can figure it out for themselves. Same with deer, no thanks.

If it's in and on the skin, it's in the blood stream. That being said, tissue infection (the meat we love so much) is reason enough.

I know the difference between cutaneous and sub-cutaneous. I will not put a meal like that on the table for my family to eat. Period.

I bet thats the last doe the boys breed each year!

I killed a deer in VA a few years back covered in those things. Noone I was with knew what they were or if the deer was safe to eat. Went with the better safe than sorry route and had a woodland burial

I think I would pass up a shot on a deer if I were able to see the lumps beforehand. I doubt I could bring myself to eat eny of the meat, even if it is supposed to be safe.

Funny you should post this – I just spotted a doe on our place that has the same issue. I've seen this written up in one of the whitetail pubs as common cysts. Sometimes they go away on their own and sometimes they get better. But the doe I have on camera this year looks nearly identical to the one you have pictured here. I think I'd pass on shooting her!

Scott, take a look at this link just may answer your question.

http://www.mdwfp.com/Level2/Wildlife/Game/Deer/Articles.asp?article=313

If you suspect of any infectious disease, do not come into contact with it and avoid any and all possibilities of contamination on the ground. If you shoot it, avoid any and all contact with it, do not go near it and call Game and Fish and let the Pro's handle it. Nasty stuff and if you come in contact, you just may have it for life!

I have been getting pictures of a year old buck covered in the same cysts/tumors. He seems totally healthy otherwise.With our horses we get a similar growth called zarcoids that we burn,cut or freeze off. They also commonly get warts on their faces from the dew on the grass, mostly white faced horses, but they go away eventually.

O'by the way Hank, clean those frogs really good now!

I wonder if the warts impart a flavor on the meat???

Yeah Clay you are right, an infection smells rank, but a healthy hoof has a different smell, not too bad and the dogs sure like the trimmings.Since the horse market has gone to hell, I have been breeding my paint and quarter horse mares to a big black mammoth jack I bought, raiseing some real nice big boned tall saddle mules.