Howdy folks id like to get your opinions about something i saw yesterday while fishing ,in a local state park. while fishing a deer (im not sure whether it was a doe or a buck that recently shed) walked into the river and swam in a circle for a good 10-15 minutes and then it died. now its head was above water most of the time so im not sure if it drowned or if it was wounded or sick.
it was a fat and healthy looking animal. 2 things i think might have happened ,1 it had some sort of disease and was disoriented or 2 it was shot by a poacher and while trying to cross the river and became weak and disoriented. i saw no blood but earlier in the morning i found another dead deer that somebody had started to skin out but didnt finish the job(maybe they saw me coming)so im thinking maybe poachers. i allerted DNR about what i found but id like to get your ideas if i could. Thanks alot,MONGO

sounds like it could have been a poacher
I hope the DNR are going to do something about it

Sounds to me as if the deer was wounded (fatally of course) so the poacher theory is the option I would say.

Deer are good swimmers and will use water as last ditch escape routes. The circling you describe (sometimes called the death dance) is common in many animals with trauma.

Strange sighting for sure.If you find out let us know what happened.Id call the game commission and pass the info on

I've heard that it is common for deer to "head to water" when they are dying. The poaching theory sounds like a distinct possibility.

Sounds like blue tongue disease, also known as catarrhal fever. In some areas many deer die from this. It is caused by biting gnats or midges. It causes high fever and the dead deer are almost always found near water.

There have been reports of CWD (Cronic Wasting Disease) in elk in the Western States, but that was a while ago. CWD is a form of Mad Cow Disease and was found in some wild elk herds. The elk that were found were destroyed, but the disease could still be out there. I dout what you are seeing is CWD, but it could be.
~Cody

Might also have been hit by a automobile seen some hit and get up and run off let us know what ya find out <img src=icon_smile_question.gif border=0 align=middle>

Thanks alot for all the replies, i just received a reply to my email from the NRP and they forwarded the information to the local NRP office in the area that this occured. ill keep you posted as soon as i get any more info. just to make sure they are really paying attention im gonna flag a nrp cop down myself when i go fishing there in the next couple of days . Take care,MONGO

good job keep us posted