i shot a nice 9 point over the weekend, and when i was field dressing i saw a hole in the back of his back leg. i didn't pay it that much attention untill i got the cape off. The hole was almost all the way through the back leg atleast 5 in. deep.. Surrounding the hole was yellow pus, nasty stuff. We cut around it and got it all out and I know its from another deer cause this guy had a fresh one on his face also and another small one close to the one on the back of the leg. My question is how safe is this to eat??

Maybe, I wouldn't chance it.

"Surrounding the hole was yellow pus, nasty stuff"

Dont eat the infected meat but if he was still healthy at the shot then dont worry about the rest of the meat. its safe. A lot of guys freak when they see a wound on a deer but if the deer was healthy most of it can be salvaged.

Better safe than sorry. I would discard meat around the wound but the rest would go in the freezer.

cut out the infected section and eat the rest. No problem at all.

It all depends on where you are located. If you are either near Chicago or mid-Michigan, I would be glad to come pick the deer up from you.

Like the others said, do not eat the area around the wound, but eat the rest of the deer! Congrats on the buck!