[Kate66]

Dead deer in the pasture, was covered in buzzards the other day. It stinks now and the buzzards seems to have left it alone. What to do? Just leave it until it totally rots? How long would that take? Other suggestions?

[cowboymom]

When we lived on the ranch we would drag it out to our dead ditch and leave it there for the coyotes to finish off. We used an old car hood and a tractor as the hearse, worked well.

Now that we don't have as much land, we would haul it to the dump. Where I live now the wolves and grizzlies are out the back door and I don't need to chum them in. Nor do I need my dogs chowing down on dead deer for the next two weeks.

[Kate66]

We've shut that field to stop the horses going in. Not sure how we are going to stop the dog going in as she's an outdoor dog. We can't smell it from the house, but depending on the wind....................

Any ideas how long it will take to rot?

[carolprudm]

I would leave it, but it seems strange that the buzzards did not finish the job. If the buzzards don't come back and you have a FEL, preferably with an enclosed cab, you could dump manure or compost on it.

No way would I be putting it in my truck.

[cowboymom]

Depends on how warm it is there and how many other varmits will eat on it. The skull, hide, bones, ect will all be there a long time. They will eventually find their way to your yard where your outside dog will eat them over the next year.

I wouldn't worry about putting the horses out there but your dog is going to stink to high heck from every orifice when she finds it!

[cowboymom]

I would leave it, but it seems strange that the buzzards did not finish the job. If the buzzards don't come back and you have a FEL, preferably with an enclosed cab, you could dump manure or compost on it.

No way would I be putting it in my truck.

Why not?

[hosspuller]

Dig hole next to the deer, then push it in. Back fill ... No more stink or worry.

[FalseImpression]

Well, at least, it's in the pasture... not in a pool like King's Ransom.. I can't find the thread, but it was very entertaining... for us!

I would think with buzzards and coyotes, it would disappear quickly though.

[E D]

I drag the body with chains & riding mower (no tractor) to the road side right of way and call the county to come get the "road kill". These things stink bad! I have had the sheriff dept put down several deer stuck in my no climb fence. They also disappear. One deer was stuck on top of the spikes of my wrought iron gate. I called the sheriff dept to come check it out to "see if it was dead".
Of course it was, and they helped me pull it off the spikes. , something I could never have done by myself. We had to get really creative and pull up the horse trailer, which they then got on top off and with a rope around the deer, pulled it up and off of the 6 foot high gate.

[The Crone of Cottonmouth County]

I've usually got 1 or 2 rotting deer on my place at any given moment. Because I am not of sturdy pioneer stock, and therefore prefer to maintain a seemly distance between myself and such putrefying corpses as are endemic to the country life, it is my policy to leave'em be and let nature take its course. Generally, within a week the buzzards and furry woodland creatures have conveniently dispensed with the main stinkage. The dogs, though. Whoa. I've got a yella lab from whose throat I must often extract lengths of deer hide as long as my arm. I avert my eyes and scream like a Justin Bieber groupie during this process. Then I fling the hide into the nearest cactus, with the result that the farm is gradually beginning to resemble a sort of stone age tannery.

[cowboymom]

Actually, that reminded me for some reason, a friend's dog got botulism from chewing on the long dead skull of an elk carcass that he found.

[SmartAlex]

Well, at least, it's in the pasture... not in a pool like King's Ransom.. I can't find the thread, but it was very entertaining... for us!

I would think with buzzards and coyotes, it would disappear quickly though.

I thought of that too! Now I'll have to go find the thread...

[SmartAlex]

Ah... here we go:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=315285

[robinb]

We found a dead doe in one of our pastures last summer, most likely she was hit on the road and ran afterwards trying to get back to her home turf. She did get over a 6 foot fence before going down. The county and state game department suggested just leaving her for the other animals to eat and were of no help whatsoever with the situation. One often wonders where all the property taxes go!!! I had my tractor guy come in with a back hoe and lime and bury her. We put lime over her and around the area she was found. I would rather pay than have one of my dogs get into it and didn’t want my mares around a decaying body either. Plus, didn't want to attract whatever was going to be eating her.

The county and state did present us with the option of dragging her to the county road where they would eventually get around to picking her up. Since I don't own a tractor and would have needed my tractor guy anyway, just solving the problem seemed the best option.

[The Shadow]

Had a dead deer whose antlers had been sawed off in my yard a few weeks ago. I had to roll its stiff stinky self into the tractor bucket - we just dumped it over the pasture fence into the woods. Can't wait til the dogs discover it...

[tangledweb]

I'd pick it up with a front end loader while it is still relatively intact and dump it in the woods. The fleshier bits will be cleaned up in a couple of weeks, but bones and mummified legs will not so much break down as gradually disperse themselves all over your property. I'm good with letting nature take its course, but I'd prefer it did it out of sight.

[JanM]

Crone of CC-hide removal sounds so disgusting!

On the Incredible Dr Pol (I think the first season) they had a rather sick dog, and the probable diagnosis was from eating rotten deer that are apparently by the side of the road in huge numbers in Michigan in some seasons.

Around here if this happened (I live in a new suburb but out in the country, am across the street from huge amounts of never to be developed federal land) I would just flag down the next muddy 4 wheel pickup or call my lawn guy, and tell them about the free meat available.

Guin-trust me, I'm not kidding. There would be ten guys with big knives run out of their houses the second the deer hit the ground. I think the guy with the shotgun shell mailbox would be first, but you never know.

[Guin]

Around here if this happened (I live in a new suburb but out in the country, am across the street from huge amounts of never to be developed federal land) I would just flag down the next muddy 4 wheel pickup or call my lawn guy, and tell them about the free meat available.

I expect you're joking, but you do know that you can't eat meat from a carcass unless you bleed it out and gut it immediately after killing the animal?

[Nootka]

I've usually got 1 or 2 rotting deer on my place at any given moment. Because I am not of sturdy pioneer stock, and therefore prefer to maintain a seemly distance between myself and such putrefying corpses as are endemic to the country life, it is my policy to leave'em be and let nature take its course. Generally, within a week the buzzards and furry woodland creatures have conveniently dispensed with the main stinkage. The dogs, though. Whoa. I've got a yella lab from whose throat I must often extract lengths of deer hide as long as my arm. I avert my eyes and scream like a Justin Bieber groupie during this process. Then I fling the hide into the nearest cactus, with the result that the farm is gradually beginning to resemble a sort of stone age tannery.

NICE

[2DogsFarm]

I expect you're joking, but you do know that you can't eat meat from a carcass unless you bleed it out and gut it immediately after killing the animal?

Ditto this!
Even if you think you're safe eating roadkill, you can expect the taste to be pretty "off" due the the massive amount of adrenaline spilled in an injured animal's attemtps to get safe.

This tidbit gleaned from a hunter friend when I asked why not eat Venison a la Roadside