Question: In early November, I shot a 2- or 3-year-old 7-pointer on my property. I noticed his hip bones were visible and his spine could be felt fairly easily. The other strange thing I noticed while gutting him was a white/yellow mucous I was pulling out in handfuls from his chest cavity. Any answers or ideas would be great. Maybe pneumonia? Maybe the white mucous is normal and I’ve never noticed? Poor diet? — Chris
Answer: Without actually seeing the deer, the best I can offer are possible answers. First, it’s not all that uncommon to see bucks looking somewhat emaciated toward the end of the rut, when they can lose 20 to 30 percent of their pre-rut body weight. As your deer was killed in early November, that’s probably not the case. Older, over-mature deer can also appear worn down.
But this probably isn’t the case with your buck.
Deer can contract pneumonia, although that would not account for the large amount of mucus in the body cavity (pneumonia is fluid in the lungs). In researching, I found one possibility — something called Adenovirus Hemorrhagic Disease (AHD). Among the symptoms are large amounts of fluid in the body cavity and emaciation. According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, “There are no known health risks from eating meat from a deer infected with AHD. However, experts recommend thoroughly cooking (at least 165 Fahrenheit) any meat from animals from an infected area.”
Yet another possibility is that the deer suffered some sort of traumatic injury, perhaps a blow to the chest from another deer or a motor vehicle. This, too, could account for the excess fluid and emaciated state.