Man Shoots Deer Out Of Season For Deer Warts

Each month we turn back the clock to see what was being reported in the pages of GON—30, 20 and 10 years ago. Here’s a look back at stories that appeared in GON.

30 Years Ago: The photos in this story were sent in by an anonymous person 30 years ago. It was of a Cherokee County buck that was killed… sometime around July 1, 1994… He writes in his letter to GON, “I am a concerned hunter and have never condoned shooting deer out of season, but this was an unusual case…”

GON responded to the man with the news story below.

Below story as it appeared in the September 1994 issue of GON:

We’ll grant him that this may be the most bizarre-looking deer we’ve seen—but it shouldn’t have been shot out of season because it looked so bad. As gruesome as the growths look, the deer likely would have survived and would have looked fine in a few months.

This yearling buck has a world-class case of the warts—or more properly “infectious cutaneous fibromas.” These growths are the most commonly reported tumors of white-tailed deer, according to the book Diseases and Parasites of White-tailed Deer and may occur in just over 1% of the deer population in the Southeast. Mule deer, black-tailed deer and moose also are affected by the lesions. Young deer are most often infected by the viral tumors and bucks tend to be infected more often than does. The fibromas may be transmitted by physical contact or by biting insects.

The hairless, firm growths, which may occur in clumps, are smooth black to gray in color and can range in size from 1/4-inch to 8 inches in diameter. They may be found on all parts of the deer’s body but most commonly occur on the shoulders, neck and head. A typical infection consists of five or fewer tumors, but more than 200 have occurred on one animal. From what we can see, the deer pictured here has upward of 100 fibromas.

The grotesque warts, however, are usually only skin deep and generally don’t cause the deer significant problems. Occasionally, secondary infection may occur and in rare cases the growths may hinder a deer’s vision or ability to eat, making it more susceptible to predation or accidents (i.e. car bumpers).

Human infection by deer fibromas has not been reported and since the growths are characteristically confined to the skin, the meat from deer that are otherwise in good health is suitable for consumption.

The writer who sent the photos said that the deer was put out of its misery. If the deer had been left alone, the warts would have shrunk, dried up and fallen off. While the deer may have had some difficulty seeing around the warts, it appears otherwise to be in good condition. Without a doubt, the threat posed to the buck’s future by the fibromas was minor compared to the high-powered rifle shot to the neck. Had the shooter been found, the charge would’ve been hunting deer out of season.