This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Something is killing my bucks

BMAYES

BMAYES

Joined Jan 2011
508 Posts | 0+
Lentner, MO
On September 15 something got into my yearling buck pen, caught a buck and ate a good portion of his backend. He was still alive when I found him the next morning. Three other bucks in the pen were unharmed and amazingly calm. I found a spot where I thought something could have crawled under the fence. The state trapper set some snares at my place and caught nothing. I have connecting pens that have does, fawns, etc.

No problems at all since then until last night, 30 days after the first buck was killed. Something dug it's way into the same buck pen, caught, killed, and ate the back half of another yearling buck. Again the other 2 bucks in the pen were unharmed and calm this morning when I fed. They came right and ate like nothing ever happened. All other deer were calm.

I think this has to be coyotes, BUT I have only been at this for a couple of years. I called in a guy that is the best trapper and outdoorsman I know. He has also raised deer for 20+ years. He said he's never seen anything like it.

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS?



Bill Mayes

660-676-7685
 
In my opinion, that's askin alot of a coyote to pull down that size of deer and have it's way with it, although anything's possible I guess. Mountain lions typically start in the abdomen and eat the major organs first when they kill. My guess would be that it was a large domestic dog, unless you have wolves in your area, then maybe that would be a more likely candidate/culprit.

Any chance these deer just died and the coyotes come in to feed on them? Was there marks on the buck's face to indicate he had hit the fence during his effort to get away from whatever was chasing him down, or marks on the other buck's faces?? How big is the pen?

Hope ya solve the mystery Bill. Losing deer sucks!!!
 
The first time this happened the buck was still alive the next morning. Not a mark on him anywhere except where it or they ate on him. This morning the deer was dead when I found him. He had hit the fence right where they ate him. I walked the entire pen several times and couldn't anywhere I thought a deer had hit the fence. No hair anywhere and no stretch marks in the wire. The pen is probably 3 acres. I am in my pens several times a day and this buck was fine last night at dark.

I agree that it seems like it would be a chore for a coyote, even 2 or 3 coyotes to do this. Especially on the first deer. What ever it was held the buck down and ate him alive.

Digging under the wire sounds like a coyote to me. It really puzzles me how calm all of the other deer are after this happens. I would think if dogs were involved that every deer on the place would be plastered in to the fence.
 
Bill, Wow that sucks...........Sorry for your loss! Hopefully you can get the culprit quik.

If you need some help and I'll round up some folks and come over and help ya! If you need anything holler.
 
No bears here as far as I know. We have a ton of coyoes, some bobcats, and I hear people talk about mountain lion sightings 2 or 3 times a year. There was a lion killed by a hunter last winter about 40 miles from here.
 
Thanks Wayne. I wouldn't have the first clue what to ask you to do, but I appreciate the offer. I have the best guy I know on it. Hopefully we can get this resolved before I run out of bucks.

I did switch the remaining 2 bucks out of that pen tonight and replaced them with some does.

I set a snare this afternoon and dug out the Golden Marlin.

We will see.
 
I dont think they would be yotes as most will kill first then eat.Most fresh kills and deer i have left overnight after being shot were torn to pieces.One yote i dont think would run the buck down in the pen.Mabey if the buck it the fence and broke its neck then the yote would eat but most likley if the buck broke his neck he would have been dead!! I think it was something big enough to hold a full size buck down and eat...bear or cat....I would lean toward cat in your part of the country...
 
When I was losing fawns and had that doe all scratched up all my deer were really calm, too...to put that thought into perspective, I recall a trail cam pic in a local bait shop that shows a mountain lion just a foot or so from an adult deer and the deer had no clue-if it is a big cat, my theory is that a cat is super stealth and the deer not being chased have no idea what is going on (if the pen is big enough)...
 
My guess is a cat but I will tell you that a buddy of mine had 2 nice size goats killed last year and we also had no clue what did it. To make a long story short it ended up being a stray rottweiler, ate the back ends and all. But being deer and probably in a decent size pen and that the other bucks weren't bothered I'm sticking with a cougar.



Good luck

Ty
 
I had a cat (ocelote) kill two fawns a few months back and ate the back stips and kidneys and left half burrierd. Even with electrc fence it was climbing on a post.
 
I have a camera up but not at the dig site. Hopefully whatever is causing the problem will come back to where it dug under the fence. If it does it will be game over.
 
Once something has made a kill, they others feel safe and will be calm because they know they are not being hunted. Watch wildebeast near a lion kill, like nothing ever happened.
 
I am 95+% sure that it is coyotes that are killing my deer. We have had some rain and you can find tracks. All I have found are coyote tracks and I killed one a 100 yards or so from my pen. This morning, another deer farmer about 4 miles from me had the exact same thing happen. A dead buck in the pen that was partially eaten. Coyote tracks were everywhere. You could easliy see where the had chased this deer until he headed into a pond. That was the end for him.
 

Similar threads

S
How to Help a Buck with Diarrhea and Weight Loss
Replies
1
Views
640
8ReindeerSteve
8
L
Beautiful Soul: Needing advise and help
Replies
7
Views
916
Tammy246
T
B
Injured Orphan Fawn
Replies
1
Views
849
HeartlandCountryResort
H
B
Fawn needs help!! Already lost one!!
Replies
3
Views
2K
Mikesmith79
M
S
What do you think? Fawn Question
Replies
0
Views
579
Standing Rock Farm
S