Dead deer in a tree

[Birddogss]

Cant figure this pic out either

its a deer in a tree

[Uncle Saggy]

its a deer in a tree

Not that. I meant TMAG's campfire pic.
I see knuckles by the fire....is someone bent over or did I miss something?

[Birddogss]

Not that. I meant TMAG's campfire pic.
I see knuckles by the fire....is someone bent over or did I miss something?

thats the guys toes you old basstard

[Uncle Saggy]

That's funny right there, i dont care who you are !!!

[klooney]

I can see it being real, now that I see the other picture... Its easier to see the fork in the tree...

[ckuehl]

thats the guys toes you old basstard

You crack me up. Those are the bottom of his boots.

[Tmag]

Not that. I meant TMAG's campfire pic.
I see knuckles by the fire....is someone bent over or did I miss something?

I had to look several times to figure it is the bottom of his left boot shining. Looks like a 2 man tent in the background.

[thebomb6_99]

those are the bottom of his boots but I they do look like toes

[Everyday Hunter]

Well that is remarkable. I never would have thought that a skeleton would stay intact like that.

One thing to be considered regarding the skeleton's ability to stay intact is the fact that this happened in northern Pennsylvania. The deer was killed in November, and we had a fairly severe winter this year with temperatures staying well below 32° most of the time and with deep snow. Bears would have been in hibernation. It's possible that the guy who hung the skeleton up did that after the snow melted, but even if he did that in early winter, the cold temps would have slowed decomposition. During rifle season in November I hunted in snow up to my waist. It's quite different from a place like Texas.

I found another dead buck this spring while I was shed hunting. That deer had most likely been hit by a car. It even had lots of the skin still on it -- although in that case it's impossible to tell when the buck died).

Steve

[ZZ Pops]

Interesting story. I wonder why a bowhunter wouldn't put more effort into finding the deer? Newbie? No blood trail, Thought he missed? I guess there could be a lot of reasons, some undersandable, some not.

[AggieBall]

I've heard of poachers hanging deer like this to take the meat they want and leaving the rest of the carcass there....maybe?

x2

[Leftridge]

Interesting story and interesting pic for sure!

My vote is for a yeti kill also...

Welcome to the fire

[GreenArrow]

Pretty cool pic... looks like he's been up ther for a while.... I know one time down in Zapata texas there was huge buck up in tree that a cat took up there... or so the locals told me...

[lotsofshots]

I am the person who took this photograph. No, it's not photoshopped. The only "help" given to the photograph was a little sharpening, using a program called Irfanview. Many of you are probably familiar with it.

I found the skeleton during spring gobbler season hanging in the tree just as it appears. I did not touch it before I took the picture. Nearby was a spot on the ground that was full of deer hair, so it was obvious that the buck did not die in the tree, but it did die in the clearing. I asked the landowner if he knew about it, and he told me that someone found the dead deer and, based on the time he found it and when he had seen someone bowhunting from a treestand nearby, deduced that the buck was shot with a bow and left for dead. Sadly, the hunter made no attempt to recover the deer, even though it fell within 100 yards of the treestand. This guy went back to the area after the deer began decomposing, and hung it by the head in the tree. I don't know why he did that, unless it was to make it obvious to the landowner that the deer was there.

I thought it was a good photo to use with in the "Sportsman's Devotional" based on Ezekiel 37:1-3 (about Ezekiel's valley of the dry bones) because it shows the skeleton pretty well intact, except for a hind leg as tmag592 noted above.

To those who speculated that a flood might have been involved, there was no flood. This is actually a hill, and can't possibly flood.

To those who wondered about predators, all I can say is that I wondered the same thing. We have a high population of eastern coyotes, as well as black bears. In fact, within a minute of leaving this scene after taking the photo, I saw a mama bear with 2 cubs. Perhaps the reason one rear leg is missing is due to predators.

I hope this answers everyone's questions. For your examination, here is the original photo as I sent it to SD:



I could post the original before any cropping, resizing or sharpening, but it's 2.28 mb. I also have another photo shot from a different angle.

Steve

Steve-

Thanks for the info! It's an honor to have you posting here. This is a pretty great online community.

By the way, if anybody would like to subscribe to Sportsmen's Devotional, it's a free daily e-mail that helps get your day started right. The devotionals always have a photo, a short devotional and Scripture reading and a 'Tip Of The Day' section. Good stuff. Follow this link to sign-up.

[tx07]

Well that is remarkable. I never would have thought that a skeleton would stay intact like that.

X10

something is a miss! Thats remarkable for it to stay together lol.