Today I received this message and photos from a friend in need who lives in rural Oregon:
“F-ing bow hunters. I took this pic in my backyard minutes ago. Arrow sticking out his back, bleeding. How do I help him?! Do you know anyone who works with wildlife? This buck spent the entire summer with me….I can’t stop shaking. ”
Desperate to help the poor deer and hoping to find help getting the arrow removed, the friend had called the game department, who told her it wouldn’t be safe to tranquilize the deer. Next she reached a vet, who said she was in luck because a wildlife vet was visiting and that they would come over and see what they could do. Well, they never showed up! Here are some of the posts she made throughout the day:
“He’s laying down surrounded by the other bucks, does and fawns. It seems as though they are trying to help him, protect him, support him. You have to love the culture of animals. Still waiting for help…”
“…this buck is very comfortable around me. I think that’s why he came here. I don’t want to approach him until help arrives. If he runs off, we can’t help him. If he says here, hunters can’t see him from the road (see the big wood fence in the photo.) I’m sure the person who shot him is trying to find him so he can mount his head on his wall. Thanks for all the suggestions. Just waiting for help.”
“I’m shaking too bad to get any video….I’m so worried about him. I also want to keep a good distance so he doesn’t leave. If he takes off, I can’t help him. Still waiting for help.”
“F&W have told me it’s too risky to tranquilize him. He could fall in the pond and drown, or fall and roll on the arrow. I’m desperately trying to find other avenues for help.”
“I’m just trying to make sure he stays. He walks just fine. He’s sleeping now. If a hunter crosses my fence and comes into my yard, it won’t bode well for him. He wouuld have to kill me. Whoever shot him is gone. The deer has been here wounded for at least 7 hours, probably a lot longer. I’m just waiting for the wildlife vets to see if there is anything we can do. They are professionals from Minnesota, who just happen to be visiting the area.”
Another friend of hers posted: “I just did some research and found some interesting info. In Oregon it is NOT legal for any person to enter your property to retrieve wounded game without permission. They have to get permission no matter what. If you deny them and the animal dies and you do not claim it than you can be (supposedly) charged with waste.”
To which she replied: “Thanks TJ. How likely do you think it would be that I would give them permission to come on my property? Not likely at all. Like I said, anyone who wants to kill this deer on my property will have to kill me first. Still waiting for the vets. He’s resting now.”
“Still waiting for help. He’s doing remarkably well, considering the circumstances. I’m not handling as well as he is. I’m so sick over this.”
“Just found out that early bow season ended 4 WEEKS AGO! This animal was poached, and I think I know who did it. Bow hunting needs to be outlawed. 2 out of 3 animals hit aren’t killed immediately and suffer….enough!”
“It’s going to be dark soon and the deer will leave. Still waiting. This may have to be handled tomorrow. The good news is that he’s hanging in there.”
” I’ve known him since he was a fawn. No sleep for me tonight. He’s family…”
Bowhunting must end!! If anyone knows of a wildlife rehabber who will take this on, please let me know and I’ll pass her your info. You can email me at: exposingthebiggame@gmail.com
Exposing the Big Game 
Jim, pass on to your friend and call EF! In the morning. They might know someone who knows what they are doing? Try some horse vets, too. You are going to have to restrain the buck to treat him. You can get antibiotics in liquid form and needles to inject it at tractor supply. The longer the arrowhead stays in, the harder it will be to get out. You will need blood-stop powder and superglue and a dark cloth to cover his eyes. And maybe some vicks vaporub around his nostrils so he can’t smell upsetting things or people. You might be able to capture him with a bucket of sweetmix and slip a dog collar on a rope around his neck. Cross-tie him so you don’t get hurt. The whole bunch will need water, hay etc. Your fence is a blessing! The antlers are very dangerous, cover them with a thick coat. That arrow is in deep. He may be resting a lot due to nerve damage? He’s bled a lot! I hope it didn’t hit a kidney or infection will set in. Try to see if there is blood mixed with urine on the ground. By now you will need to freshen the wound, which means cut away the dead flesh a bit before closing him up. Use toothache gel to numb the pain. The Merck Vet Manual is online free now. Deer will do pretty much anything a frightened horse will do, so get help, don’t try this alone! Good luck and many blessings upon you!
Thanks for all the good advice on treating an animal like that, Melody. I hope she’s going to get some professional help from a wildlife vet today. As Ingrid pointed out (and I’m heard in the past) not all rehabbers will work with deer. If she can find one who will, I’m sure he can be saved (barring any unseen infection).
Yes, I hope she finds professional help, too! But that can come too late in these cases so I just wanted to give your friend basic advice until either help arrives or it comes down to just feeling helpless and rejected by too many rescuers and time runs out. I sure didn’t mean for her to go it alone! But two very experienced horse people and a livestock vet tech could do this if no one else will. Horses and deer are not that different to work on. My big concern is to get ahead of the infection fast. Plus pain will be an issue. There is a generic form of lidocaine according to my friend who studies all that stuff. So if infection can be handled with a shot of antibiotics and pain controlled long enough to take the arrow out with no injuries to the deer or the humans, then the biggest part of the battle is won. When I grew up, I first learned to treat horses and dogs before I ever tried to help wildlife. I’ve lived mostly where there is no help, very isolated places. I spent many hours on reading up on this kind of thing and I still do. Mostly for humans and wolves now. The humans being limited to myself and my family in emergency only situations. I’ve got to get some sleep now. Good luck to your friend.
Thanks again Melody. I agree with you that the pain and chance of infection are the primary concerns. Unfortunately, all the vets and rehabbers she’s talked to so far are not willing to physically get involved. They tell her either to have the police shoot the deer now, or keep an eye on him and they can euthanize him if he goes downhill. They say that the deer may get used to it, or that the arrow will work its way out. They don’t seem to understand about the barbed arrowhead which wants to go further in, not out. Yes, it’s always a risk to tranquilize an animal, but they do it for every other reason in the book–to collar and tag them, or move them, etc. Removing an arrow that will otherwise kill him seems worth the risk.
If there’s a vet or rehabber out there reading this, there’s still time to step up and help this wounded animal. Again, this is not bowhunting season there, so this is an illegally shot deer you would be saving.
One other long-shot might be to call every rehabilitator in the country who rehabs deer, just to see if they know anyone in their network. As I say, that might be a long shot and, of course, rehabilitation parameters vary state to state.
Thank you for your persistent advocacy, Jim. The suffering like this is immense in a sport that’s largely out of sight, in the wilds, and governed by self-policing. The injury rate is, indeed, the dirty little secret they effectively keep from the public.
Right, expecting killers to self-police is only going to result in a public ignorant of the cruelty they keep in the dark.
Thanks for the good advice, Ingrid. The woman who’s caring for the deer seems fed up with contacting rehabbers who give her the same kind of advice (about euthanizing him). For now she’s content to watch and see if the arrow comes out on its own or deer might adjust to the arrow being there. I’m concerned about infection and that the arrow may work its way further in (assuming the head is barbed).
Here’s the latest about the deer, from his guardian angel: “My friend with the arrow wasn’t here this morning. One of the other big bucks didn’t show up either. I walked into the woods (with an orange vest – the hunters are out in force) and found the two of them. I asked them to follow me back where it was safe and they followed me. He isn’t worse and is moving fine. I gave him breakfast and he’s resting. I feel blessed that he’s still among us and has support from a fellow buck. Please continue to send healing love to this magnificent creature.”
Yes, thank you everyone, I think this episode of the horrors inflicted on the innocent and the hands tied by stupid laws hindering rescue should be brought to lightwth the general public. Bend some stupid laws, go get some horse people, secure that deer and go down to the feed store and get the necessary items needed to treat the injuries. Treat the deer as if he were a pony. Look up everything you need to know in the Merck Manual online! If you know anyone who can get their hands on a bottle of injectable lidocaine or novacaine, inject into the closest muscle group to the injury, wait afew minutes and extract the arrow carefully. If anything comes out but blood and pus, you have a big problem, probably a kidney injury? Just give him antibiotics and sew him up with a piece of fish tank line to drain the pus. The longer you wait, the more chance of this being a mortality. Make sure all your instruments are sterilized with hot soapy water and chlorox. Clean the wound by irrigating it twice a day then wipe it out for a few minutes with a thinned out capful of the old fashioned lysol concentrate. It works better than anything else I have tried. One capful to a gallon of water. When you do your stitches, tie off eachone with a double knot, space them a quarter inch apart. If you don’t have a local pain killer! Get some accupuncture needles and do a nerve block. You can look all this stuff up. It will all be healed up in a couple of weeks. I have a horse expert Native woman friend in Washington state, she knows a lot of people, Jim, contact me and I will pass on her contact info. Treating a deer isn’t a whole lot different from treating a wild mustang. It’s unfortunate that the federal and state people have their hands tied!
From a Native perspective, the deer went to the one human he trusted, there is an element of fate involved. Make prayers then it’s trial by fire time. I have told all I can remember. Do not call the law, they will kill your deer, trust Creator and fate and remember, this deer would have died anyway, so you can’t make it worse than that! Blessings to everyone!
Jim, which part of Oregon? Here’s one list of wildlife rehabilitators by state: http://www.wildcarebayarea.org/site/DocServer/9-16-10_correction.html?docID=381
I volunteered at a wildlife rehab center in California and every clinic has different specifications about which species they can treat at their facility. I truly hope there’s a positive resolution here! Removing arrows should definitely be done by a trained person. What a travesty. I’ve seen bow-injured animals before, including a turkey that our local wildlife team finally rescued after many attempts. I simply cannot grasp what is in the soul of a person who engages this violence, if there’s even a soul to speak of in someone who would do this to a living being.
Who would do this? That’s the question for sure. It’s “general hunting season” there right now, so there’s a lot of people prowling around who could answer that. I don’t think bowhunting is allowed during modern firearms/general season, so we’re dealing with a poacher case.
Thanks for the list of rehabbers. She lives in southcentral Oregon, so she’s going to call the one in Klamath. They only deal with raptors, but she’ll ask if they know anyone else. I don’t think she’s planning to try to do anything herself, so hopefully one of the rehab centers will step up.
My husband and I tend to find injured wildlife (we keep basic rescue supplies in our car). But we were hospital volunteers, not registered techs or vets, so we simply don’t have the skills or qualifications to apply medical treatments. So, we’re often in the same position, looking for a vet or a wildlife rehab center to care for the animals in emergency situations.
I’m grateful there are so many more facilities than there were years ago. But I’ve said over and over, especially when we’re in a small town with no such place in sight, said that it’s an utter travesty and injustice that there’s no MANDATE for a wildlife center in every town — paid for by the same hunter funds that wildlife departments use to justify their favoritism toward hunters.
I have the same deep sorrow about dead and injured wildlife as you and your many readers do. And, I’d obviously rather not see any animal in this barbaric situation. But at bare minimum, states should have dedicated funds to clean up the wretched blood trail of injury they leave behind. These individuals, and the sport at large, get to play frivolously with lives as they see fit, with no repercussions nor genuine responsibilities for the often dastardly outcome. It’s infuriating and heartbreaking.
Problem is, if they had to pay anything to clean up their wretched blood trail and rehabilitate the victims of their spoils, they’d feel even more entitled than they already do.
Must be judicious and cautious when requesting help for wounded wildlife. Thinking about the woman who asked for assistance for a fawn and they came and she thought they would treat her and they shot her instead. Proceed with caution. And the very best of luck for your little buck friend.
http://audubonportland.org/sanctuaries/wcc the above post should list rehabbers by county, (the first poster) call game warden as last option thdy are not on our side. Hopefully you can get help before infection runs out of control.
i feel the anguish and desparation of your friend.
Contact Annette Tucker of Wildheart Ranch in OK. Here’s their FB page —> https://www.facebook.com/WildHeartRanch but her email will be the fastest way to reach her besides the phone: wheartrnch@aol.com (918) 342-9453
Please let us know how this all turns out. Praying for him. Please post outcome.
Everything is in holding pattern right now, with all rehabbers and vets afraid or reluctant to help remove the arrow. I’ll post the outcome…
Thanks, I’ll pass this info on
Reblogged this on Wolf Is My Soul.
Don’t know if they can or will help, but it might be worth a try: Animals in Distress, Boise. Their website is http://www.idahowildliferescue.org. My hope is that they are part of a network and may know of someone closer to this poor creature’s rural Oregon location.
I am praying to Saint Francis for this deer. Keep us posted. Thank you for caring. I wish I knew how to help. I hate bow-hunting.
Me too. This happens far too often, but most injured animals stay away from people, so it goes unnoticed.
What about a vet from from the Portland Zoo? Maybe they might know of someone who cold help.
She has probably called all the rehabbers they would recommend, but anything is worth a try.
While the body wants to repel the arrow, it is like a giant porcupine quill. It’s going to get infected, that’s a given! If nothing else is done, that buck will die in the woods and nobody will know! Any EMT can do this if they want to take the chance in private and off duty. And they have access to lidocaine!
From the looks of that arrow, he probably got shot by some jerk kid, sitting in a tree? I’d be more worried about that kind of a neighbor than having a bit of field surgery go wrong! The arrow is evidence of a crime and may have finger prints or dna on it? I’d like to say that I am surprised by the lack of anyone stepping up that could actually help but unfortunatly that is the sad state of affairs these days. Next time some far right NRA mouthpiece starts crying ‘nanny state’, use this story as just how wrong a ‘nanny state’ can go when wildlife ‘management’ is run more like the Mafia than any agency that had the welfare of animals in mind!
Good point about the FINGER PRINTS ON THE ARROW! If anyone reading this wants to pursue that, it’s good evidence in a poaching case.
Reblogged this on Our Compass and commented:
Emergency situation, can anyone help?
You know, if I were there, I would take care of this situation and I know my family would help me! It pains me to know that I can do this but I am helplessly 3,000 miles away!
At the very least, your friend needs to get the injectable antibiotics or the oral ones and stop the infection now. The easiest thing to do is to get the duravet powdered antibiotic, which is about five bucks, and take a teaspoon out of the bag and mix it with honey and put it in a bucket of sweet mix and he will gobble it all up! Tell the man at the feed store that you have a horse with a barbed wire cut that is getting infected and you need the best antibiotic for that. And a bag of sweet mix. Treat him three times a day, orally in his food. That should keep the infection down so at least that won’t kill him. But that arrow has to come out. You might be lucky, most places make hunters put their name and address on arrows. So that is yet another reason to take it out. Getting back to sweet mix, it is like ‘crack’ to deer! You just might be able to put some fishing line tightly around the arrow, tie it to a tree at the angle arrow went in so when the deer walks away, he will pull the arrow out by himself! Not exactly the best plan but in light of every vet being a pussy there and time running out, this just might work? Try to dump a bunch of blood stop powder on the wound before attaching the string. This should work like tying a loose tooth to a door knob, then shutting the door. I know it is crude but it will be over quicker than surgery. The powder will keep the bleeding down. You are at very little risk, like I said, sweet mix is like crack to deer! He will be concentrated on his scoop of sweet mix. Shake the bucket so he gets used to the sound of dinnertime and you don’t have to go into the woods to find him. Once the arrow is out, keep him on the antibiotic for two weeks, three times a day. He will be fine if you do that. 🙂
Coming in this late, just making sure she has called all wildlife rescue’s in her area, http://www.willamettewildlife.org/ Very pissed to hear OR has that stupid F_cking Law..we have to change these shit laws for the f’ing Hunters! Connee and Greg in AR are wildlife rehabber’s and are always available to give advice, all hours of day or night 501-362-0332
Thanks Dominique
AND DO NOT call Fish & Game/Wildlife, they will only kill him!
My prayers are that someone shows up quickly….it will send many prayers your way….I’m so so sorry for this I know how you feel.
Our “killing” seasons are about to begin here.
I wish I never had to leave our house until it ends.
We have to drive past these morons standing on their cars and shooting into the woods from them.
There are houses and people all around them.
My fondest wish is that they would all kill each other!
What a “special” time of year…https://exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/a-special-time-of-year/
I don’t know how tame this wounded deer is; however, treating a deer is not like treating a horse. You typically can not forcibly hold a deer down to work on removing an arrow. Wild deer are also highly susceptible to capture myopathy, a traumatic stress reaction that can be deadly. One also has to consider that this is likely a broadhead arrow, with possible implications of just ripping it out.
I think the appropriate protocol would be to sedate this deer with a dart gun, and then have an experience vet or rehabber with experience in removing arrows, or who has been briefed on removing arrows to remove this arrow, stitch him up, and give him an antibiotic shot. This BS about sedation being too dangerous is just crazy.
It is really depressing that no rehabber or vet is willing to help. Of course, first you have to find someone with a sedation dart gun. It might require a combination of a wildlife rehabber with a sedation dart gun and a vet willing to help, and offer to pay them well for their efforts.
I don’t think this is an emergency situation, i.e. it doesn’t look like a main artery has been severed and that bleeding is a problem. I would make sure that the deer is getting extra food and water, and try to keep him on her property so that he isn’t shot again. The hunter/poacher may still be out there looking for him, and rifle season is on the horizon.
I would continue calling rehabbers and vets and begging for help. I believe this deer could be easily sedated and the arrow removed, stitched up, and shot up with antibiotics. She just needs to find someone with experience willing to help.
I would suggest that she call IDA (In Defense of Animals) to see if they might have some contacts that could help. They advocate for deer when many animal protection groups don’t.
That said, if no help is found, the best solution might be to just do nothing, and hope for the best. She could give the deer some antibiotics as suggested by Melody or in pill form in some apple treats.
I’m wondering looking at these pictures if the arrow shaft has already broken off. I don’t see the shaft in the second picture.
If this deer is tame and allows the women to touch him, and an experienced vet says that she can remove the arrow by pulling it out, then she might try that or have a friend try that, but I don’t know if that can be done w/o causing more damage. I would recommend that she take a lot of good pictures and share them with a wildlife vet experienced with removing arrows. I don’t know if there would be more risk in pulling the arrow out or leaving it in, without a vet’s help. It might also depend on how deep the arrow tip has penetrated inside the deer, and how close to the nerves in the spinal column.
There has to be a vet or rehabber out there somewhere that will help.
I agree, there has to be. I saw a photo taken this morning; the arrow is still in and the wound looks worse to me.
I didn’t mean a deer is like working with a horse, I meant the anatomy and basic first aid are similar.
You do know what you are talking about, I considered a spread of infection to the kidney to be the worst case senerio although there may be some nerve damage, I think the spine is not involved? It is a very necessary thing to give antibiotics now! Even if they are just mixed with food. Given the state’s thinking on animals, no one with a degree is going to work on the deer. There is no way of legally taking the deer out of state. I have never heard of privately held dart guns, so that is out. The more I think of it, the more I think distracting the deer with food and antibiotics while tying the arrow, tightly with strong fishing line, to a tree or post just slightly higher than the deer’s rump, would allow him to essentially walk out of the arrow. If it stays in much longer, the skin will close up around it and without a. Way to drain, he will swell up and die of infection. Poachers suck!
The idea of feeding him antibiotics is a good one, but tying fishing line to the arrow won’t work for two reasons: 1. The deer isn’t allowing anyone to get that close. 2. The arrowhead is most likely a barbed broadhead which won’t easily come back out and will hurt and do damage on the way out. He needs to be tranquilized, possibly by someone willing to bend state rules about animals as property.
I just now saw this post about this poor deer. I live in Bend, Oregon and have tried to help injured deer in the past, only to find that veterinarians can loose their license if they touch a wild animal, as they are considered the “property” of Fish and Wildlife, who will only kill them, not help them. Years ago, a friend of mine who was a new police officer came across a baby deer that had been hit by a car and she took it to the vet and found that it had a broken leg and they fixed it up (probably because she was a police officer they figured they’d be okay to do it). My friend then called the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife thinking they had a place where this little deer could be safe while it recovered. She was shocked when they started yelling at her, telling her she had no right to touch that deer as it was their “property” and much to my friend’s and my devastation they were there within minutes and killed this sweet little baby, who had sat in my friend’s lap as she drove and put it’s head on her shoulder. What a sorry state of affairs when our laws allow us to shoot and kill all kinds of beautiful animals, while having laws that barr us from helping them!
I heard about that poor fawn. The animals as “property” concept is psychotic.
I was thinking the same thing – the animals as “property” creates many many problems. That’s one of the reasons I like the work of Steve Wise and Nonhuman Rights Project (http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/). His work will begin to legally address this issue.
That’s the way to do it.
to hunters:
if you were on the other end of the bow,
bleeding in agony, dying slow.
would you care then, if it was your own
pain that you know!!!!
Karen, I think I can actually answer that. Do you remember the story a few years ago where a hunter came upon a deer he thought he’d killed — but the deer was still alive and attacked him — understandably so? The hunter called it “15 seconds of hell.” The irony was lost on him for how many hours and lifetimes of hell his acts undoubtedly created for animals. When the table is turned, they clearly don’t see it the same way. In fact, if they did see it that way, we wouldn’t have taxpayer-subsidized rescue teams for lost or injured hunters.
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This is so wrong and so sad. I hope someone can help this poor animal. Peace, Barbaraa
Thanks, she’s still looking…
What happened to the visiting wildlife vet that said he/she was coming out to help?
I guess they backed out.
I know that they saved a deer who was in the same situation at NLWS (Northern Lights Wildlife Society) in Smithers, B.C., last year. They managed to get the arrow out, and the deer was fine. Perhaps she could contact them for information? http://www.wildlifeshelter.com/about.htm
Thanks, I passed that on.
what about contacting PAWS – performing animal welfare society? 209-745-2606 office/sanctuary
I think this woman could use some help and support contacting rehabbers and wildlife vets. Are there any Oregon animal protection groups that you could refer her to that could maybe help her? I hate to see her give up on this poor deer.
Please don’t give up on this poor deer. You are his only hope. Suggestions: (1) Call again the vet who originally said there is a visiting wildlife vet (but he didn’t show up). Ask if he, or any vet, can come now. If they can just help with infection and pain control, that would buy time. (2) Check the website of the Humane Society of the US and get the contact info for your state or regional HSUS rep, then contact them for help. (3) Call your local humane society or any friendly vet to see if they can help. You might want to withhold details, such as your name and location, until you are confident they want to help, rather than calling in Fish and Wildlife to shoot the deer. In the meantime, try the antibiotics in apple treats.(Experts: Is it possible to add a painkiller also in the apple?) Good luck and keep trying. Something will work. Bless you.
I don’t have any advice to give on the follow up treatment of this poor deer, I am not vet or anyone of any help in this situation. I just wanted to let you know I think you are a great person got caring so much and becoming involved in this animals life!! This is so wrong, and I also feel that arrow hunting as well as trap hunting is immoral and cruel. Good luck to you, I hope your friend can be saved.
its now 29/10/2013 did the poor deer survive n did it get any treatment?
Nothing new to report, unfortunately.
This is really pissing me off! If I could get there, I would help! Unfortunately, I am in Maine!
I can’t believe there are not some old hippies in Oregon that are not afraid to bend the law? I understand a vet risking loss of licence but how about a retired vet ot EMT? Army medic? The dart gun is the hard part, if that is the plan? Yes, you can drug animals with bait, WS does it all the time, to kill! You could put antibiotics in apples if the right deer eats them. I’d use a trail of sweet mix from where he comes out of the woods to a rubber horse bucket with a scoop of sweet mix with antibiotics in it.
You would need a chemist to get past that point, although if you can get lidocaine from some internet source, inject him in the rump by estimating weight and consulting online merck manual. Lidocaine has to be close to the wound but don’t hit a nerve! This won’t knock him out, just numb the wound for a few minutes, if done he won’t feel a thing. He must be cross-tied and hobbled or you could really get hurt. Although this is really a professional job, a couple of cowboys with expert level experience might be able to do this? Once he’s tied up, injected with lidocaine and you have a tray with sterilized exacto knife or single edge razer blade, cut away the dead skin and remove the arrow. If it bleeds a lot, have a big bandage ready with blood stop powder, use that with compression. You can’t stitch dead skin, cut that away. It will bleed a little when you get to live skin. Remember, the arrow is evidence, don’t throw it out. Wrap it in a plastic bag. If the shooter had hit a major blood source or organ, the deer would be dead before this, so really, this is good! Clean up the wound with a cap full of Lysol concentrate in a bowl of water. If the deer is getting twitchy, give him more lidocaine. If the wound needs stitching, use sterilized boiled threa d and needle. Tie off each stitch with two knots and snip the thread. I use white cotton. Not everything needs stitching. Especially the rump. If you are sure he will come back, let him loose after the bleeding has stopped for a while. Feed him antibiotics in sweet mix three times a day, one teaspoon each ,otherwise, use a large dose of injectable antibiotics and wish hime well. You can’t risk leaving him tied up. You might get caught! The pics might have GPS enabled? Everything I mentioned above should take about an hour? I’ve done what I can from across the country. I wish I could do more! Sorry for being so wordy, just seems like everyone cares but nobody wants to get hands on with the “field surgery”! We shouldn’t be that afraid of the fish cops! I am more worried about the little -poacher in the neighborhood!
You’ve obviously had a lot of hands-on experience treating horses and some of your suggestions are applicable here. But the problem with trying to wrestle a deer down and cross tie him is that deer can die of panic. The local game department proved that yet again when they tried to move some deer to another refuge via helicopter. The deer probably thought some kind of giant raptor had them and being unable to move or get away, they died of panic.
As far as I can tell, the images provided so far do not contain GPS coordinates. The following link may be helpful to examine image metadata: http://regex.info/exif.cgi .
I’m hoping that Someone will help…..all I can say is that hunters are disturbed, to enjoy killing….is a sick involved thing. Yes we eat animals……but the enjoyment of the act of murdering an innocent, this is a sick demented mindset…
I agree with most of what you said here, except the line, “yes we eat animals…” Many of us who are concerned for this deer do not eat animals because we don’t want harm to come to any animal for the sake or our palate. Why continue a life of meat eating If we can get by without being complicit to animal suffering?
I agree, although I feel it is even worse for an animal to die, perhaps by a car accident and they leave the dead dear or moose on the side of the road or a few feet into the woods rather than give it to the elderly lacking food money! I feel, for lack of a better word, that is a sin to waste while people starve. If nothing else, give the creature to a wolf rescuer. But I think it is wrong to kill creatures… geez, I live in Maine and won’t even eat a lobster! But I have a weakness for peppers and onions pizza! 🙂 At least one on my birthday.
Hi Guys, what’s the status? I am in NJ, however, if this deer needs any financial help for the vet or the medicine, please let me know — i will be happy to donate some money.
Thank you for that generous offer! I’ll pass it on. There’s nothing new to report right now; everything’s in a holding pattern until we see what the wound is doing. I’ll let you know of any changes.
Blessings on all who try to help, including you, Jim! It has been a rough go of it since the wolf slaughter started, many people are really suffering emotionally, crying all night. So blessings for everyone who is being active and doing what the do best! I will go out at sunset with my seashell and make prayers for the deer and everyone trying to help. And for all the wild creatures.
Thank you Melody
I know there’s a wildlife rehab place in southern Oregon, I’m not sure how far they travel to help though. Couldn’t hurt to contact? If nothing else, they may know someone else in your area!
http://www.wildlifeimages.org/contact
Thanks, that was the first group she contacted. I don’t know why they didn’t help out…
It seems we’re coming full circle in the search for a rehabber or vet. I guess the plan now is to hope the deer heals naturally, on his own.
the advice of adding pain relievers and antibiotics to a sweet feed has me wondering why not also add a sedative? I don’t know if deer and horses can be given the same meds but there are several calming meds out there, often used during transport or even shoeing. they do take a while to kick in but it may make it possible to get close up photos or even just apply some wound spray or powder.
Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, there’s no way she can be sure that the injured deer will be the one who eats the feed.
I had a thought…maybe, for future use, we can develop a drone to inject medicine into animals remotely and accurately? That would stop animals from dying of fright. If you can avoid the whole process of capturing them, then they won’t suffer PTSD. I might be a crippled old woman now but Jim, you are correct, I have most of my life time been treating horses way too far out in the wilderness back before even portable CB radios. Like no help was coming, you knew you were on your own and if you didn’t think the situation through, you could die out there. Now I have been injured many times and walking more than a few steps isn’t alway an option. I can’t afford meds that would help me better than the cheap stuff at the dollar store! I don’t work with horses anymore but beside horses I always had dogs. Then I started rescuing abused wolfdogs and let me tell you, a wolf with a face and paws full of quills is no Sunday stroll in the park when you have to do the job yourself. Especially 110lb GSD/Gray Wolf I took three tries to get him up on the table! Knocked the wind out of me. Took all night and several bottles of toothache jell and a few asprin and benadryl to fix him up. It is hard with quill injuries. You can’t muzzle the wolf! My animals live in the house and only go out into 6 ft chainlink enclosures, off the house doors, so no worries now although some crazy raccoon broke into a pen with two Malamutes, I have the pictures of that if you want them? 🙂
There are two organizations you can go to for help on wildlife rehab. IWRC http://theiwrc.org/ has a listing of rehabbers in each state. Give them the info on where the animal is and they will put you in contact with someone for your area. Also the IFAW http://www.ifaw.org/united-states may be able to help as well.
Hi there,
Were you able to find help for this poor deer? Your story has been featured in Facebook and people are concerned. Is there anything we can do to help? Please feel free to send me a personal message to the email address noted above and thank you for caring for this deer and other wildlife. This world needs more caring people like you.
Thanks Carmen. The deer is doing pretty well today, considering. The last I heard, the arrow may be working its way out on its own. As long as things don’t go downhill, the landowner doesn’t want to do anything that might further harm the deer.
Good news, barring infections setting in, I would still advise a five dollar bag of powered antibiotics from the feed store would be a wise investment. Better to have it and not need it… I failed to mention that it can be put in water. Sorry. That is it’s intended use. Can’t guarantee the right buck drinks it but it won’t hurt the others if they do.
You should know that people who say treat it like a horse or pony clearly have never worked with wild deer. An adult buck is a dangerous animal if frightened or restrained. Cross-tying would almost certainly lead to someone being seriously injured by antlers or hooves–they can put one through your skull. He is hurt, scared, and confused and would fight. Rehabbers rarely if ever work on adult deer because either the people get hurt or the deer breaks a leg or otherwise injures itself when you try to keep it contained for treatment. They are not putting you off, they simply know it won’t work and the deer will end up being euthanized anyway. Even if they could get the arrow out successfully, how are they going to do daily treatment of the wound until it heals? If he’s lucky, the arrow will fall out on its own, sometimes this happens. The hunter is definitely at fault for not pursuing a wounded animal, but don’t demonize those who ARE responsible. If not for hunters, none of us would have gardens or intact cars because we’d be overrun. Law-abiding hunters (unlike the one who wounded this deer and let it get away) are an important factor in population control, which is to the BENEFIT of the remaining deer because overpopulation leads to disease and starvation.
This answer comes from a veterinarian with 20 years of wildlife rehab experience.
Don’t demonize hunters….but sure, rip into me? Sure I know a buck is dangerous, wolves get killed by them and no one hears that side of the story! I never said somebody who had no experience should ever try physical contact with a freaked out buck! There are things everyone with experience knows can possibly work but that doesn’t mean we are going to put them out there on the internet to give deer- jackers any ideas.
The problem lies with the state of Oregon’s laws that go back to more primative society that beat their horses and wives and dogs and nobody could stop them because they owned the animals and women. I guess this attitude isn’t going to change as long as unethical people are appointed to positions of power over animals.
You are wrong about the need for people to kill deer. What people need to do is stop killing predators and let nature’s balance return to normal. Until then, put a tall fence around your garden and orchard. If pot farmers can keep the deer out so can regular gardeners. One of my neighbors gets used snow fence and recycles it for his garden fence.
I’m just curious what kind of a vet heals some animals for profit and kills and eats others because it is doing the community a service? Saving the environment? Ad it’s helping the deer survive, except for the ones you eat? Oh gee, where have I heard this crap before? Oh, yeah…sportsmen’s associations and gun clubs. Sigh!
Well said Melody.
🙂
Who is interested in working on getting the “unethical people are appointed to positions of power over animals” out of political positions? Replacing them with intelligent, compassionate and progressive politicians? http://www.humanevoters.org/
Hey Guys, any update? How does the deer feel? Is he or she still around?
I assume he’s still alive; I haven’t heard anything new in weeks.
You might have seen another story about a deer shot in the face in NJ: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/11/remember-the-deer-shot-through-the-face-with-an-arrow-heres-how-its-doing/ and how NJ F&W rescued the deer. I believe they did it only because the story went viral around all news channels, and they were very afraid public outcry. Usually, I believe, F&W just shots an injured animal: why bother if they sell the kill licenses in the first place? This might be a good time to submit this story to news agencies, to expose the bow hunting, to show that these injuries are not exceptions — this is “normality” of bow hunting and need to be stopped!
I posted on that a few weeks ago when it happened. You can find it in the Archives.
I was watching North Woods Law on TV last week and the wardens go around with a trailer full of stuff confiscated from poachers. They take it to state fairs and other events. One of the items I saw was a huge crossbow rigged up with a powerful scope and night vision! There is no legal use for that. Never mind ethical… it was easy to see it gave the game warden the creeps just touching that. All I could think of is that the wardens know what it must be like to be stalked in the woods! I can’t say it’s too much of a stretch of the imagination to say the guy who built that rig would have any problem using it on any creature or human who walked under the tree stand he was sitting in, covered head to toe in camo? If the wardens didn’t have night vision, I doubt they would be alive
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