Antler Eater

I have no axe to grind with anyone here. No dog in the fight if you will. The last thing I would try to do rob someone of a trophy like this. If Tjewell71 is satisfied with believing he killed this deer that is all that matters in the end.

However, if it were me....There are two items in this thread that lead me to think that Tjewell71 was not the cause of this bucks demise. This whole case is based upon a wounding shot to the leg that got infected and claimed the life of this brute. I am assuming that the wound is the one in the photo.

I have witnessed as I am sure a lot of us here have, the slow death from an infected wound. I won't bore you with the details in an effort to keep this shortbut this type of thing affects everything the animal does,including eating and drinking. The odds of this animal succumbing to such an infection and at the same time looking so robust and healthy 23 days later are less than miniscule.

The second issue that makes me feel the infection was a non issue is the gentleman that kept the meat. I assume he is experienced in butchering a deer otherwisethe deer's story would have scared him away from keeping the meat. That would be simple common sense. The fact that after comparing it to other deer he has butchered and still gave ita "thumbs up"would lead me to believe it was okay.

So how did the buck die? I don't know I wasn't there to examine it. Doesn't much matter now.

Again how Tjewell71 wants to handle it is totally up to him. It is his call. I am not trying to belittle any of his efforts. I am just stating facts as I see them from experiences not only from deer but other livestock.

Good luck.