Guys, one of my buddies shot this 5 pointer opening day here in North Carolina. This deer had some kind of puss pockets on at least 50% of his body. They were all over his neck and belly and he had a large patch of them on his hind Qtr. We belong to a private 3,000 acre club in Arapahoe, NC and have been hunting this land for 3 years and have never seen a deer with this skin disorder ???? Just wanted to know if anyone had seen this or knew what it was, and if we should worry about our deer pop. on this property. Thanks
I have seen them before in pictures, but I can't remeber much about them. I have never seen one that bad. I would definately call the local state biologist.
Yea we are going to send some pics to NC Fish and Game, as well as NC Sportsman, but it was bad. It really made me gag looking at it. My buddy said that when he first walked out he was shaking real bad, almost like he was trying to shake them off, he said he thought they were just wet leaves when he shot because we got a little shower that day.
Those are fibromas/papillomas. Basically, they're deer warts. They're caused by a virus that is tranmissible to other deer but not easily and most deer wouldn't develope the mass amounts of papillomas that are seen in your buddies deer. So, it's gross, but nothing to worry about and the deer is still edible.
So do you think that we are going to see more deer on our prop. with these??? And thanks for the info.
What you are looking at are fibromas. The meat is just fine as it is a skin disease only, not extending any further in towards the actual meat of the deer. It won't harm humans, so you're good. Edit: I'm too slow, Christine answered already.
I'd cut em off, and batter dip them before throwing in the fryer. They would likely taste like chicken nuggets. :p
Thanks for all the info. we were really worried about the deer pop in our club, but this has put our minds at ease a little.
The deer is fine to eat but if you turn it into a wildlife official they will usually give you another tag. Atleast in PA they do.
My dad shot a deer around here one time that had a puss pocket like inside his leg but it was under the fur. We had the game warden come look at it and he took the animal and gave him a new tag. Nothing like that though!
