Thats one heck of a deer, it would be a trophy where i hunt in Michigan. I hope it was just heat exhaustion, but you never know. There are many things it could be. I don't know if you hunt around there but I would clean up any half eaten apples and get them out of reach of other deer. Another deer bites into one that it was eating and it was some sort of disease that can be spread through food, that might not be too good. Anyways you put it, it sucks about that deer. Just about as bad as a few weeks before the season start the big buck you've scouted gets killed.....by a truck. Hate when that happens.

I have seen deer "drunk" before from eating fermented apples. I hope this wasn't the case.

I'm going back on Sunday to talk to the lady that called the DNR ....ask which DNR she called... and learn more about the specifics of what they really said...