Hey y'all I got an update -

I am just leaving the ponds now. I found 2 of the other deer mentioned, one out of the water was just a skeleton (may have been dragged out)

But, I think I found the cause... I took a sapling and poked around in the water. A few feet from shore, the bottom drops off very steeply. The ponds are lined in the black rubber. I think they are too steep for the deer to escape. I was standing in 6 inches of water with boots because the recent storms raised the water a bit. Within arms reach with the stick I could feel the bottom drop at a very steep angle down to 2 or 3 ft deep within 2 or 3 ft horizontally. I don't know how deep the ponds are but it wouldn't matter if the deer could never climb back out.

IMO, the pics make it seem unlikely that that many adult deer drowned. Banks do not appear to be that steep.

here is my question.. why... would a herd of bucks all of a sudden want to jump in and swim across a pond?? if deer do drink water..(which I have never seen happen in 35 years of deer watching) why would they have to walk out into the middle to get a sip?? why not just stand on the edge like other animals do in the winter??