Extremely Scrawny Buck?

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coleman1495

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Well my buddy shot a whitetail buck last night. Its a 4x4, has a decent rack and on first glance is a nice deer.

The thing that throws me off is how scrawny it is. I bet that deer doesn’t weigh 120lbs. Not an oz of fat on it either. It looks like its a got a meth head body.

I’m thinking it is sick and lost a pile of weight. Another buddy figures it’s just from the rut and it will eat like crazy after to gain weight.I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take much -20 to kill it. Anyone ever shoot an oddly scrawny deer?
 
I would debone it without cutting any bones, especially neck and spine.

Get it tested before consuming.
 
I would not rule out disease like CWD - testing should be readily available for that. Also could be a yearling - had buttons as a "fawn" - grew its first rack this year - likely constantly getting crap beat out of it by older bucks during rut - no time to eat - whatever it ate during summer went into those antlers, not body fat. So aging the thing is also part of it - done by evaluating the wear on the teeth - to determine how old, what type of feed it was getting. A least in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, am sure the rut is a "near death experience" for most bucks - just not that much to eat once rut is over and into snow, so real challenge is staying alive until Spring growth. A lot do not make it - Winter coyotes and Spring bears eat good!
 
it'a called chronic WASTING disease for a reason. I completely agree with the suggestions above. Send in the brain / head to your wildlife lab for test before eating.
 
surly could be just from rut rundown but still early in the rut for that much loss. I have killed central ab. WT's that were like a weasel when the hide was removed long before CWD became a thing but with CWD now around and spreading in area, it could be a concern along with other form of sickness (lungworm) that can draw an animal down. The Ab. fish cops will check the head out for sure and one time I had them offer to test the meat of an animal I had just skinned to see if it was fit to eat. It had been horned in a fight and had a big abscess at the wound site. The animal was green from end to end just under the hide so I asked for a replacement tag. I was told to bring in a meat sample for testing but in the mean time I was told to butcher the animal same as always and freeze the meat until it was tested....that animal nor any part of it was ever going to see the insideof my freezer so I didn't follow up on their offer but it was there.
 
Makes sense good info. I figure that buck should have been at least 180lbs and it was probably 120lbs. I don’t think that could be attributed to just the rut. I’m guessing it will likely more than just the rut.
 
coleman1495 said:
Well my buddy shot a whitetail buck last night. Its a 4x4, has a decent rack and on first glance is a nice deer.

The thing that throws me off is how scrawny it is. I bet that deer doesn’t weigh 120lbs. Not an oz of fat on it either. It looks like its a got a meth head body.

I’m thinking it is sick and lost a pile of weight. Another buddy figures it’s just from the rut and it will eat like crazy after to gain weight.I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take much -20 to kill it. Anyone ever shoot an oddly scrawny deer?
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Many years back, an old friend shot a ten point buck that was withering away. Had almost no teeth, he was just old. He mounted it anyway, and filled out by the taxidermist it turned out well.
 
You are in AB, look in the regs for the nearest CWD head drop off freezer to you. They don't return antlers though. Cut them off before sending it in. I did two last year, whitetail buck and a mulie doe, it was mandatory in my zone(256). Had results back within a month. This year 256 is no longer a mandatory zone yet every zone north, west and south that borders it is?? Anyways I'd get it tested before consuming it just to be sure. Testing is free.
 
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