Back to the story .......

It was 7:07 when a Mark's text came through, "buck down"!   Remember, I was only 100 yards down the fence row from him and the only bucks I saw were at least 300 yards away.  So what he shot or where it came from was a surprise to me.  

His next text to me was along the lines of  "oh  ----  I think I screwed up, this deer looks sick"!   I sat still for the next 10 minutes and another text came over,  "correction, this buck is ------ up, may not be edible"!

A minute later he said, "I'm on the ground".  

I slowly came down my tree pulling my stand and steps.   I walked down the fence row to find Mark pacing in circles, visibly upset.   The deer was laying at his feet not 8 yards from his tree.   The deer was a mess.....nothing but bones, warts, swollen cysts,  open wounds, damaged eye, rubbed off hair down its entire back and feces all down its tail end and back legs.  To be honest it wasn't that it was gross, it was very sad and at the same time a blessing.  

Mark put it very well when he said, "this was the best deer I've taken and the worst".   He really didn't want to take pictures and was beside himself about what to do.  Folks this deer was in extremely bad condition and I was concerned with handling it and or the arrow.   We did what was best and would like to keep that personal.  

Here are a few photos, so sad.

 

 

 

Tim,

Brother that is one sad looking deer, I would not have been able to make myself keep that deer for consumption.

Putting it down to end its suffering would have been the right thing Mark could and did do.

I have never seen anything like that.....very sad. Mark did that poor guy a favor. Looks like a great trip overall though! Thanks for sharing!

WOW, it almost looks like cutaneous lymphoma in cattle or some kind of fibroma, I've seen this in dairy cattle.

Great pictures.  Thanks for sharing.

Sad for the deer but you did the right thing. Still a trophy.

Hopefully Tippit chimes in and give us his professional opinion.

Personally I think Mark did a good thing for this deer to end its suffering. Even leaving it for nature to clean it up is not a bad thing as nothing in nature is wasted. In my eyes it is still a trophy as it was humanely put down. Your pictures of the trip are gorgeous-spent 4+ years in NM so these pictures bring back memories for the wife and I. Thank you for bringing us along.

I think Mark has made some good works: the clean shot and taking down a hill deer that can infect others.
In Europe when you kill such kind of animal you have a prize with another free licence plus preference points for the next season. They are called sanitary kills.

Wow...that is one sick critter..you did him a favor for sure!

I would let the CDOW see it.

I'm curious as to what that is.

Congrats Mark,  Great Thread Tim and Pictures.

Gotta love photo bucket....   :mad:

Thanks for sharing Tim!

David

Well done to you both!

How come I can't see most of the photo's? I am using my smart phone.

QuoteOriginally posted by MnFn:
How come I can't see most of the photo's? I am using my smart phone.

I am using a computer and can't see a lot of them either for some reason.   :(

Great hunt bud, thanks for sharing. I miss out west.

Can't see pictures either!

Same here - no pictures...   I've enjoyed following your trip west, but the pictures aren't coming through on my computer.

Bernie

QuoteOriginally posted by Bernie B.:
Same here - no pictures...   I've enjoyed following your trip west, but the pictures aren't coming through on my computer.

Bernie

Same Here........  

Tim you have exceeded the free bandwidth limit on Photobucket.  You can create another account and repost the pics or upgrade.