3yr old Buck with Dart BOBO

His antler growth is the least of your worries right now I think. Now that fly season is here that needs to be tended to and soon.

Did you recover the dart?

That should have healed. If the needle of the dart has caused that wound then it seems you're dealing with some sort of bad bacteria.

A needle hole that has opened up that much, there has to be something in there , bacteria would have still let it heal and close although it might weep , were you using wire hooks on your darts or gel???

More than likely, when the dart entered the animal, it pushed some hair(s) into the hole with the dart. I suspect you used a gel-collar dart as those are the ones that generally cause this type of wound. You need to restrain the deer in a chute or tranq the deer and perform a simple exploration of the wound. Most likely, you will have to take a razor blade or scalpal and cut into the wound a little to expose the infection source in the core of the wound. Then you need to clean the wound and get the core out. Wash the wound thoroughly with betadiene after the cleaning and liberly coat the wound with an antibiotic creme, not an ointment. Cremes work best, as they are water based as opposed to petroleum based and moist tissue heals faster. It may be necessary to apply a topical dressing for a few days leter. This can be done with a water pistol if you can get close enough. 7% iodine undiluted, shoots well through a dime store water pistol, no need to get a super squirter (ha-ha). Good Luck

Cool on the road to recovery then.....thats great!!