Taphonomy help.

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
A lot of emotion goes into the harvesting of a whitetail deer. This is hard to post because I have self imposed the concept that I cannot "count" a deer as harvested if I am not able to locate it in a reasonable time after "the shot". I shot this deer in late November and found this yesterday while scouting for turkeys. It was by itself and there is no rodent damage nor is there any damage to the skull, like the nose bones. Before I found it I had found a pelvis and many other bones scattered all over the place with no apparent final death location. All of the bones were bleached out and clean. The skull was about 40 yards away from most of the bones. I feel like it should be more decomposed and bleached out if it had died in late November. The antlers are firmly attached to the skull so I don't think it died later than January. It is certainly the same deer that I shot because I have it on film. The antlers are quite distinct.
I have included a picture of the shoulder blades because my shot (with my recurve bow) went through the the left shoulder blade but did not penetrate well. At least 3/4 or more of the arrow was sticking out when he ran off. There was no blood trail. I found the bones 650-700 yards away from where I shot him. The left shoulder blade is well chewed and I never found the arrow.
What do you think? Could this be the deer that I shot in late November?54438784265__74525E20-39DF-441F-9C35-082D1B4763AD.jpegIMG_5071.jpegIMG_5073.jpegIMG_5069.jpeg
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
I hate to guess because it oftentimes shows my ignorance but I will say that it very possibly could have been there since November. I noticed the amount of hide and hair left on the skull. You said that the shot was in the left shoulder which would have left an amount of blood in and on the bone which may account for why it was so chewed and the right not so. Whatever the case, I'm glad you found what was left.
 

Wildlifer

Old Mossy Horns
did you say it WAS the deer you shot in November? So are you asking if you shot ended up being fatal? It looks reasonable that it has been there since then. I think it would be far to coincidental that a deer you shot ended up not dying from the shot and later happened to die that close to where you shot him.
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
It’s really hard to say, very well could have been due to the shot or death may have been from unrelated reasons. If he was routinely on your cams and then disappeared completely after a shot then I’d say your shot was fatal and he just ran a really long ways. If not then who knows


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
It’s really hard to say, very well could have been due to the shot or death may have been from unrelated reasons. If he was routinely on your cams and then disappeared completely after a shot then I’d say your shot was fatal and he just ran a really long ways. If not then who knows


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Never showed on trail cam after I shot.
 

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
And when I sayI had him on camera I mean I videoed him from the tree but he walked out of the frame as I shot. Self filming is hard that way.
 

Blades

Six Pointer
You killed him.

Yep, my guess too. It’s a bummer but gives some closure. I clean my deer on the property and they are pretty much all white in 2-3 months from critters, bugs, shade or sun location, and decomposition, The one exception were some parts of the spine and skull similar to what I see in your photo.

I always find it amazing how fast deer remains are consumed.

Congrats on the very nice buck.
 
Last edited:

Familyman

Twelve Pointer
Congratulations! First off, I think you should feel very good about finally finding the buck and that you should enjoy some much-needed closure. Whether or not you let yourself "count" him is up to you....and really irrelevant if you ask me. You shot him and now you've got him...I wouldn't worry too much about the amount of time that passed in between. I'm certain you did your best to recover him at the time.....but he somehow gave you the slip. It happens. Clean him up and display him proudly and count it all good. All's well that ends well. And congrats again on a fine trad bow kill!
 

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
LOL I had to google it too. I knew it wasn't necropsy and I knew there must be a word for it. Now that I look it up again I am not sure taphonomy is the proper word. I guess I should have just used the "decomposition" help.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
If you say it's the same deer you shot in November, there is nothing I see that would dispute that. But this is one of those scenarios I mentioned that a trained tracking dog may have found using just interdigital scent. Maybe a dog was used and unsuccessful, idk. But it is a very very nice deer with a bow of any kind and I'm sure you did all you could. Although bittersweet says a lot about you, an experienced hunter, to share the story.
 

Jack's PA

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I had a similar situation in 2016. Shot a buck. Didn’t find blood or fur. Looked for a couple hours the direction he ran. Found a hole in a small tree where bullet hit tree.
Exactly a month later I was hunting another stand on the same property. I found a skull that was that deer. It was about 100 yards from where I shot and across a creek. Skull was almost completely clean. No other bones or hide. I will always wonder if I killed that deer.
 

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
If you say it's the same deer you shot in November, there is nothing I see that would dispute that. But this is one of those scenarios I mentioned that a trained tracking dog may have found using just interdigital scent. Maybe a dog was used and unsuccessful, idk. But it is a very very nice deer with a bow of any kind and I'm sure you did all you could. Although bittersweet says a lot about you, an experienced hunter, to share the story.
When I found this skull I spent a lot of time pondering you and your pup and what I had seen you post recently. Needless to say, if it happens again I will be giving you a call.
 
Top