Ok this has been a lengthy debate for years. I was checking trail cams yesterday and walked up on this dandy 8 pt. At first look thought he was just bedded. Then he raised his head up and tried to get up . he was paralyzed from front shoulders down. barely able to raise up. I had found 3 deer over the summer that I figured were EHD victims. I had called the co wildlife biologist. He said if I found another to call him .I called him and sent pics and video of it. He said to put him down if I had a firearm. I carry a 22 mag for yotes so dispatched him in neck. When he arrived he started pulling samples as no wounds where evident. brain, lymph node harvested he rolled him over and found a hole right below the top of the back just 4-5 inches behind the shoulder. Ky muzzle loader season was Oct 17-18 . Apparently one of the neighbors had shot him. He then traveled across the river back to our farm. The biologist said the wound was not fatal until days later when infection had set in it got into the spinal column and caused the paralysis . He said chances are the buck had been moving fine until the infection got him. The ONLY place a deer can cross the river is around 400 yards from where I found him. It is a massive cliff on both sides of the river where he was lying.

What exactly does this "confirm"? Everyone knows that the spine dips significantly over top of the lung area, and a shot in this area will miss all vitals. Maybe I'm missing the point here?

You must have a short memory . Last year around this time there was a lengthy exchange that several on here proclaimed that such a "zone" didn't exist.

good job on finding and euthanizing it.


i must have missed the post that claimed there was not spots that were not fatal on the front 1/4 of a deer.

I don't recall that. Are you sure that's what they were claiming? Are you sure they weren't claiming that a void between the lungs and spine didn't exist? Because if they were, they would be correct.

Ol jbyrd63 is the most confused member on tman

Please ole wise one enlighten me ............

That is exactly the argument that I remember about the dead zone...between the top of the lungs and the bottom of the spine. No such zone exists.

Shots above the spine is a totally different animal. They certainly can be non fatal. Have seen several survive those type hits by trail camera evidence and scars when they were killed.

I believe you are saying the round entered and did not exit and was just behind the ribs below the spine ?

was the projectile recovered ? what was it ?

I have seen deer shot through behind the ribs a couple inches below the spine but above the liver go a long time , I have even seen signs that deer shot there healed to live another year or longer and had a scar there when I was skinning them after I shot them

Take a wildlife biologist and a jbyrd and put them together and what do you get? Money wasted!

You guys were picking brains and playing with lymph nodes without doing the obvious and flip the body over first.

Put a couple kids out there next time and ask them to find the bullet hole.

I shot a deer high once, right below the spine but above the goodies. That deer bleed like a stuck hog for about 100yds then nothing.
Found it a couple weeks later in muzzleloader season.

Good grief.

I thought this was comon knowledge?

No it was in front of the ribs. In the middle pic that is the shoulder blade on the right side of the frame.

X2.

HEY JP for your info I was told NOT TO TOUCH it after I dispatched it. Second the biologist was tickled pink that he got a call that the deer hadn't decomposed or all the organs had been compromised . He said he has to pull a sample from x number of deer each year and was having a hard time getting the tissue samples he needed. You do know they check for more than EHD ! What is the first thing most hunters do when killing one . IT IS NOT call the dept wildlife biologist for them to get specimens for herd management. SO as for wasting money you are a fool !!!! He was getting paid the same if he was sitting behind his desk or out in the field gathering VALUABLE INFO !!!!

So think before you mouth ...... or is that beyond your intelligence ??????

Can you explain it to me again?

Read it slower you may catch on . But I'm not betting on it. Deer biologist do invaluable work but if hunters and sportsman don't help them they have a hard time getting data. He arrived 20 minutes after I called him and kept saying how he appreciated me calling and wish more people had the fore sight to do so. Most would have just shot him and cut the horns and moved on. I care about the animals I love to hunt too much not to do my part for the people in charge of managing them.

Lie detector determines that that’s a lie.

Hope he looks next time.