Well, well... Look what we have here...
 

As some of you may know, I've been hunting the river bank not to far from my house. I've been cracking the woods just about every day just to get my game on. I'm bored, what can I say... :D

I was there yesterday and when I went back today, I could smell the smell of death. I'm figuring that's my squirrel I lost. NOOOOOO! It wasn't! Look what I came across!

Two fawns...


The mother doe...


They weren't here yesterday. I know they weren't, I was sitting right where that doe now lays. I just couldn't believe my eyes and stood there in amazement as I tried to figure out WTH happened to them. I figured pretty quickly it wasn't a poacher but a preditor in a large pack, more like coyotes. We have them here although I've never seen them, it makes me wonder how safe I am hunting down by the river on my own.

They ate the hind quarters from all three deer and the head of momma doe. That one fawn had it's back eaten out too, the whole way down on each side!

I can see coyote hunting in the near future. I just went out today and bought a tree stand and safety harness. You know what I'll be doing in the back yard tomorrow don't ya? Yep! I'm going to be getting close and personal with my tree stand! :D

I got coyotes on my mind now and with an open season and no limit, I want to give them hell! :evil:

Three deer though within 25 yards of each other. It makes me wonder how many coyotes there were? I saw no drag marks in the leaves either.

Thoughts?

ETA Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6mSvjqTBy4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q6KR_pciZ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9haAnRGlYKc

not trying to sound like a smart butt here but you did check the "mama doe" to make sure that it was a female right Ive never seen a yote champ on a head like that from that pic it looks like a buck that has had his rack cut off and around yote kills there will be drag marks all over the place they pull there pray around trying to rip chunks off. like i said not trying to be a smart but just checking. around here i would lean more to wild dogs then yotes they seem to run in bigger packs and seem to just kill for the fun of it i couldn't see a coyote pack taking out 3 deer in 1 night that close to each other and leaving that much food with no sign look around there should be some poop full of hair or something. but what ever it is good luck and be careful

I don't think I'd be able to really identify that it is 100% a doe. The hind quarters were eaten completely off of all 3. When I first saw it, I seriously thought poacher because it did look like you said with the rack cut off but if it were a poacher, why not take the meat too? Why slaughter 3 deer and leave them lay? I showed the video to my BIL and his wife, they both said a pack of coyotes.

I honestly have no clue though between wild dogs or coyotes. I know we have coyotes down here... I'll cautiously go back and check it out in the morning but SIL figured it was a doe because of the two fawns very close by. She said she wouldn't have left them. :confused0024:

Your thoughts are more than welcome because I considered, when I found them, that I may have to call the game commission on a poacher. I'm just unsure of what to make out of it to be honest.

I also found the one fawns legs about 3 ft from the babies.

Really, one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had.

I don;t know much about coyote hunting but I do know a lot about wolves because they used to be in my yard every other night. (and PETA can suck it. Lose a hunting companion (dog) to a pack and then complain about animal rights)

Could it possibly be wolves? Typically a wolf won't leave an animal in such good shape but it takes them days to finish off a carcass as well. Perhaps you scared off what ever was eating away at them on your approach (e.g. sound of your truck or something?)

That is the work of poachers. The dogs or coyotes might have fed on them after some A-hole got done with their dirty work. The buck has had his rack cut out and the fawn had its backstraps removed with a knife. I would definitely call the Game Warden!!

If you go back look for bullet holes. I agree with "haystack". This looks like the work of poachers. Especially the way the back straps were cut off of the fawn.

But if it were a poacher, why didn't they take the back straps of the other two?

Seeing that older deer's head has me wondering if it was a poacher though??? Don't poacher's go for meat too? Why, if it were a poacher, would they leave so much left? I could see if they skun them all up and left the carcasses but they're pretty much whole with no signs of being shot with a gun or arrow. I dunno. I didn't touch or inspect them closely.

Something is back there eating at them though. I took the 243 back today to take a look around and the big one has it's back eaten out now.

Well, I just got off the phone with the game commission and the guy said it sounded like POACHERS too but there is nothing they can do about it because no one saw them do it.

UGH! Such a waste of life for these deer just to do that too them.

It pisses me off!

I need a trail cam!

I would love to see pictures of poachers that you caught. Of course try to hide it, I'm sure you won't have a trail cam anymore if they discover it. Then again they do make fancy ones that transmit wirelessly.

Poachers are nothing but low down thieves. Having total disregard for the law, the game animals and the negative impact they have on hunting is of no concern to them. Usually they are involved in other criminal activity and that's what gets them "took out" most of the time.

Contacting the Game Commission is and was the right thing to do. I would make sure you kept the name of the guy you talked too also, that way if you're around when someone else discovers a crime has been committed, you are not suspect #1.

I've seen this kind of stuff for over 30 years and each time anger gets the best of me. I will say the more people aware of what's going on in the community, the better the odds of these guys getting caught. Although the penalties is no where near stiff enough!!

Poachers arent always after the meat, they kill for different reasons and sometimes no reason at all other than to kill something.

Weve had guys here kill bucks and just cut the heads/antlers off and leave the rest lay.

Weve got guys that kill anything and take the meat.

And weve got guys here that kill em and just leave the whole deer to rot.A lot of the time, here anyway these guys arent hunters but pissed off farmers who dont like the deer eating thier crops or younger people just out killing something for the sake of killing it.

A few years back a couple of these farmers were popping deer with .22s after dark south of town and it was pretty sickening, bucks, does, fawns, all shot and let to run off lying in fields and fencelines all over the place.Everytime I went out it seemed I found a couple more rotting away somewhere.The DNR couldnt catch em but everyone knew who was doing it, unfortunately unless caught red handed they cant do much about it.

It is indeed very frustrating!

thats very wierd to have all them in should a close spot. I can't see a pack of coyotes taking down THREE deer all so close together. There would have to be 20 coyotes to take them down that fast that close together. By the look of the marks on the head, I'm almost convinced its poachers, Look at the angle the cut in the head is, V shape, typical cut from removing the rack. Don't wanna get close to the rack, leave lots of bone to keep the rack together. Likely cut a few steaks off and the rack and left em to rot. You ever see a tresspasser, give em hell and prosecute them to the full extend of the law, maybe they will learn a lesson.

I agree, poachers all the way. That first pic that you call 2 fawns looks like a momma deer and 1 fawn. Look at the belly on the one, I would bet dollars to doughnuts she's still producing a little milk. The second pic is definitely a buck with the horns cut off. I'd say he was following momma when all three got picked off. Are there any fields nearby? Chance are they were shot from a distance and then brought in there to be concealed. Maybe they weren't finished getting what they wanted when they got chased off. Who know, maybe they heard the yotes and got the jitters and got out. That's when the yotes finished them off.

yep sorry to say but them deer were poached

I only have one word, POACHERS!!!!!!

Worse then coyotes, and even wolves !!!

Not to hijack this thread but this is what yotes did to a deer of mine last year that had been left overnight. It was a big doe shot at just before dark in an open marsh/field. It only went about 50yds but we just could`nt find it in the dark. Came back at first light and found it in a matter of minutes. Might have been eight hours.


Ron

Look at the two pictures and compare. Seems to me it's a poacher. Must've been in the middle of cutting the back straps off all three but something must've spooked em and made em run. And yotes killing 3 deer within such a short parameter is not impossible, but unbelievable. Which yote in their right mind would leave so much dinner behind? Had to take quite a few of em to take down all three. At least one of the yotes would've been hungry enough to consume some of the deer (and not partically the backstraps).

Yep that was for sure done by poachers! No animal eats the top of a deer's head, takes only the hindquarters bones and all, and only the backstraps like that.

im onna say poachers too, (in the video)the cut down the backstrap is too straight to be an animal doin that, on another note, a pack of yotes that take down 2 fawns and a "doe" .. dont leave anything but bones...im sure a yote or something ate on it, but certainly didnt kill em like that, and place them together.

Thats deffinitly poachers. Look at how clean the cuts are. Sad... Sad...

yeah it looks like a rack was cut off the one and in the video of the fawns looks like the back straps have been cut out.