I am not an expert, but couldnt the deer have died from lead/metal poisoning from toting a chunk of it around near his lungs and throat? Around here that is a trophy buck. I used to have some rifled slugs that my grandfather gave me with my double barrel shotgun when I was 13 yrs old. They where old enough to have the name pretty much worn off from the wax paper cases but man did they kick lol.