Tenacity

[Mike Belt]

Deer never cease to amaze me for their tenacity for life. I see deer in my back yard almost daily and a huge red oak 50 yards from my back door feeds them into spring every year. This year is no different. I've been seeing a half grown fawn feeding the last few days. Her back left leg has been injured to the point that there is no meat left on most of the ham and none on the leg; it's pure dangling bone all the way to her foot. She limps around feeding and is otherwise as fat as mud. I don't see how she is surviving at all and I suspect she'll die or be easy prey for coyotes but stranger things have happened. I've seen several deer over the years while hunting missing legs that were involved in the rut and seemingly doing well. Amazing animals.

 

[hunter0925]

I shot a doe one year that had a bad limp and I thought she had been hit by a car. I shot her broad side at 20 yards with a bow and she lit out like no other deer I had ever shot. When I found her she was missing 1/2 of her back leg. It is amazing what they can do.

 

[stik]

I saw a small buck with a freshly shot off front leg. I didn't realize it until I no longer had a shot. I felt bad for not putting him out of his misery as he stood and stared as if begging me to do.i was sure he died a slow , cruel death until he was seen mid summer with a healed over stump and getting along just fine. I never saw him again.

 

[BSK]

Back when I was in college, and still living at home, I saw a doe on my parent's property that had been recently hit by a car. Her pelvis/hips were so shattered she could barely drag herself along. Not being deer season, I was conflicted about puting her out of her misery. I decided to let Nature take her course. Not only did that doe survive for many years, she produced twin fawns every year after her injury.

 

[Shed Hunter]

I've gotten a couple of three legged doe on camera. Both looked just as healthy as the other deer from those areas.

 

[deerhunter10]

They are extremely tough amazing animals.

 

[Deer Assassin]

Tuff forsure

 

[Nealmeally]

Deer are tuff animals for sure!

This has nothing to do with deer...but injured legs..
I know a guy that shot a coyote with 7mag and blew it's front leg off. The coyote fell, got up, picked it's front leg up, and limped off into the woods with it in his mouth... I believe him cause he is a honest man.. I asked him why he didn't shoot again.. He said he was amazed at what he saw and figured the yote had somebody that could put it back on for him.. LOL!

 

[Anonymous]

I shot a doe in the front leg when I was a kid. I saw her for 3 years after that running around with only 3 legs. She was fine other than not being able to cut the corners as fast as the rest.

 

[Florida Cracker 971]

Six years ago I watched a three legged buck run does by my stand several times & he never missed a beat. It was awesome to watch.

 

[BSK]

I have to wonder if, at any point in human history, we had the same ability to survive wounds and infection.

Yes, absolutely. Before the advent of modern medicine. But to have that, we had to accept the astronomically high child mortality involved with Natural Selection. Before the advent of modern medicine, 50% of all children died before their 16th birthday. But those that survived all of the childhood diseases became extremely hardy adults, able to survive amazing injuries. Just read some of the medical reports from the Civil War to see that. Young men survived the most horrific wounds without any real medical treatment.

 

[Winchester]

Amazing animals for sure! Outside of the things I have saw myself over the years which has really surprised me a few times, what I saw working at a busy deer processor (3000 a yr average) for many years is truly unbelievable. From car parts deeply embedded, bullets, arrows and broadheads, all completely healed over and years old! The list goes on and I wont even try to list them all.