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Chris Evans, a whitetail hunter from Illinois, could hardly believe what his trail cameras captured last weekend. In an October 17th photo and October 18th video, a zombie-like deer with an enormous wound passes through his property.
The buck first appeared on camera in September and was perfectly healthy then. Evans isn’t sure what caused the injury, but has been reaching out to neighboring landowners to see if they know.
“Pretty wild thing to see a deer still walking after something like this,” Evans said. “We are trying to see if we can find and kill him if he is still alive.”
There’s no obvious explanation for the buck’s wound. Evans has heard theories ranging from broadheads and bullets to barbed wire fences and flesh-eating bacteria. His best guess is that it’s from a combine, though.
Kip Adams, the Quality Deer Management Association’s director of conservation, believes the injury is mortal. If coyotes don’t kill the whitetail, winter will.
“I can’t imagine the infection won’t get him,” Adams said. “Very sad.”