The Life and Travels Of Buck #8917===

Very interesting thanks for posting

That question was asked. If coyotes could of moved it or scavenged before the snow. The reply was...

Duane Diefenbach
Good question. When the field techs found the deer it was buried in snow except where it had been scavenged by coyotes. Therefore, we concluded the deer was not killed by coyotes. Coyotes would not move a carcass of an adult deer.

I wonder if it was wounded by late season archery or muzzleloader. It didn't move for over 8 hours then only a few hundred meters before it finally died.

I'm not surprised at all doc.    If hunters "found" every single deer out there every year, there wouldn't be any left in very short order.
 
Another major flaw in this "study" is that much of it takes place in areas where its not representative of the states and varying habitats etc.    My area (and from all Ive read and heard from others other parts of the state also) has just seen large increases in predator populations in just the last 10 to 15 years.    Prior to that there were VERY few coyotes and very few b'cats.    Now they are seen regularly in several parts of the wmu that we frequent.   Our group has already seen 1 yote and 2 cats this season while archery hunting.    Many of us had hunted for 20 and others 30 or 40  years plus without seeing ANY of either until just about 10 years ago.  Now its every single year.  Multiple times.
 
I don't believe the predator population has changed much in the study area.    They've had at least Fair numbers of both cats and yotes in those big woods areas for some time now.  So no increase THERE wouldn't be overly meaningful imo even if that is found to be the case.
 
Some of the areas are also quite remote, unlike many areas of the state a large number of us hunt.   Naturally an individual deer there has higher likelihood of surviving a hunting season.  Not to mention the collar deal.
 
I also don't buy it that collared deer are harvested equally to uncollared.    Nothing but more self serving drivel. I have heard, and read where hunters have said that they passed on collared deer in the past due to not knowing what the collars were all about.  And there are probably more people like that than those who actually follow what is going on.    So sorry, I will NEVER buy that one.   Will some people shoot them?  Absolutely.    ...But not on the same rate as uncollared.
 
The study has one sole purpose.   Support further herd reductions in the not too distant future.   Its agenda driven data will refute the claims of increased predation.   High herd harvest rate.   And show that more deer will need to be harvested to better the health of the forest.    That's exactly how it will be presented to legislators.   And the reason it will show that is due to the selectivity in study area.   High bias towards desired result and highly biased parties interpreting and compiling the data as they see fit.     And it was a foregone conclusion before they even started the "study".   Nothing but politics as usual.
 

http://www.petersenshunting.com/deer/whitetail/coyotes-and-deer-can-these-killers-bring-down-mature-bucks/
 
 

Esox, I don't think there is a huge impact from ANY form of natural nonhunting or non vehicle related mortality on otherwise healthy adult deer in Pennsylvania.
 
And regardless of what killed the deer, I see nothing stated that supports any other cause of death.
 
On the other hand, we know that we have coyotes that cleaned the carcass in 24 hours.
 
Any guess at exactly what happened is nothing but speculation at this point.
 
On the other hand, to say definitively that it was definately not coyotes based on the information given, as was done is really one helluva leap.
 
That's all I was saying.
 
Along with that  I would feel confident in saying that the huge majority of coyote kills are not able to be identified as such for obvious reasons.