"BIG" 8 Point Velvet Buck - Bad news

[Liveliner]

What has happened to the big Bucks?</p>

Could this be them?</p><font size="2">

[img=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/liveliner/DSCN1462.jpg]</p>

I was hunting this morning and was checking a watering hole for sign after the hunt.  I have not found any dead deer up to today.  I found a huge eight point buck still in velvet dead near water.  This tells me that it was effected by blue tongue. </p>

This buck had huge heavy mass antlers with a spread of 18".</p>

See the pics below;</p><font size="2">

[img=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/liveliner/DSCN1458.jpg]</p>

[img=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/liveliner/DSCN1461.jpg]</p>

[img=http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/liveliner/DSCN1459.jpg]</p></font></font>

 

[Guest]

LL, you show a buck but what about the other ones you show in the pic, where did they come from?

 

[SpurHunter]

I have heard it is worse on the bucks than does. I guess its a tender-morsle

 year LL! Kill more does, better bucks next year!

 

[Liveliner]

SpurHunter - 10/10/2007 7:01 PM I have heard it is worse on the bucks than does. I guess its a tender-morsle

 year LL! Kill more does, better bucks next year!

</p>

I have heard of several does being found but this is the very first buck found in the area where I hunt.  Spur, I am very picky as to what I shoot.  I let more 8's walk than most hunters see.  This one i found today would have been a shooter for me.  I don't know if you can tell just how big those antlers are but the base is approximately 2' diameter, very thick and a spread of over 18".</p>



Doc1 those other sets are a few that I pulled out for attention.  My first comment was to make it appear that I found a herd of bucks dead in that pile.  Actually those are a few of the eight and ten pointers that I have harvested in the last few years that were a little small for mounting,(for me).</p>

 

[churly]

LL, That Sux! But,If that pond only had one deer dead in it you aren't in as bad shape as many other places. I know of a fella that found over 30 dead deer in his pond two weeks ago in Middle TN. There were several monster bucks including a 145" 8 pointer. I spoke with the land owner that lets me hunt in IL. He said that they had it there as well. I see it as Mother Nature's way of doing what the hunters didn't. You can take 3 does a day durring rifle season in Unit L for a reason!

As for the buck, his bases are much larger than 2". I have heard that when field judging a deer the eyes are about 6" in diameter, his bases will go at least 5", which is huge and I love how he carries his mass! That would score well as an eight pointer. When I first read the post I thought those were all racks you found. After seeing that, If those are the deer you dont mount, I wont show my trophy room!

Have you thought about poachers or a vehicle encounter, I know you are near a highway.?

 

[Liveliner]

churly - 10/10/2007 11:15 PM LL, That Sux! .............skip...........<font color="#0000ff">Have you thought about poachers or a vehicle encounter, I know you are near a highway.</font>?

</p>

This buck was found over two miles from the nearest Hwy as a crow flys. It is approximately six and a half miles by backroads that are gated.  I mentioned that I hunt a road crossing on this same property but this was far from that spot.  I checked out eight or ten more lakes on the property and thank goodness this was the only deer remains that I found.</p>

 

[rsimms]

Liveliner is most likely correct about "blue tongue," known also as EHD (Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease).

It destroys red-blood cells and deer that are infected become extremely thirsty and are almost always found dead near water.

EHD exists in the whitetail deer population ALL THE TIME. It's just like there are always a few humans who have a cold or the flu. But occasionally there are increased outbreaks... or even an epidemic. There has been a higher than normal outbreak this year. It has mostly effected Middle Tennessee. See: http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_113420.asp

The disease in transmitted by the little bitty black flies most of us call "no see'ums." As soon as we have the first frost the flies, and EHD will disappear.

Here's a bit of trivia. Some deer do actually survive EHD however when they do, it impacts their hoof growth. If you ever see a deer that has the tips upturned (like an elf's shoe), it is because it contracted EHD at some point and survived.

As of right now hunters have taken 8,380 deer in Tennessee this season. As of the same time last year hunters had taken 12,339, significantly more. HOWEVER, remember how terribly hot is has been and how many hunters have said "to heck with it. I'm waiting until the weather cools off." So it's really going to be tough to know whether to blame decline in harvest on EHD, or hot weather and low hunter participation?

 

[ratherBfishin]

rsimms? Question. When they get ehd and survive do they pass the genetics of the hoofs down to the fawns?

 

[Cathooker]

The hoof thing is not genetic...it is disease caused. His genes are set from his inception as a being. Here is an example.... a man has an infection that causes him to lose his eyesight. He is blind. He marries and has children. His children will not be blind.

 

[rsimms]

Yes, Cathooker is correct. The "hoof" problem is a physical problem, not genetic.