We found 7 Dead deer on our property in Menard TX, Has anyone else had this problem this year? I heard it could be from protein feeding in severe drought conditions.

What was the proximity of the dead deer to each other? They look like regular dead deer or what?

I have always heard that they need a water source close by when eating protien but have never heard of a death. Much less 7.

Which direction from Menard? A few years ago they had a serious problem with EHD/Blue Tongue in the fall in the Menard to San Angelo area. Killed quite a few deer. Talk to our TPWD biologist.

Anthrax maybe? It usually shows up in dry years. But I thought it occurred further south

Maybe that too

That is why I ask the area since there is an area west of Menard that has had it in the past. This is not the year for it though since it has not rained enough. It will usually hit around July 4th or so in the Carta Valley area when it does hit.

I thought Anthrax shows up in wet years? On the new growth that sprouts quickly?

From the way our deer looked just a little bit South of Menard I could believe that they starved. Some of ours looked ok but most looked horrible.

Usually it shows after a really wet winter and spring followed by a dry period in the early summer. This causes them to eat much closer to the ground and inhale the anthrax spore. It would seem to be a little late in the summer season for Anthrax to me.
If they looked really poor it could the EHD/Blue Tongue then, but would not think this would be a year for it though.

That makes sense. Thanks for explaining.

Sorry for the confusion. I thought it was during dry years.

Were did you find the dead deer? Around water troughs or just at random on trails in the pasture or in bedding areas?

I have found some dead deer and to me it looked like lack of food. Real skinny and rough orange looking coats.

I was in Menard last weekend on my lease on 2092 and we didnt see any dead deer but in talking to a man at Comptons Warehouse(feed store)that said they have seen several dead deer on ranches that he services feeders on.Our ranch has had no rain since october 2010,but fortunately there is water troughs all over with piped in water.It looks worse than I have ever seen and if we have a bad winter I am afraid the deer herd will suffer greatly.the landowners cows have always been in top shape and they look like hell.I know we cant feed them enough to keep them alive so i am hoping for some rain soon so they will get a little greenup so they can get a little protein before winter.where is your lease located?

We have a lease SE of menard on 377 and were down there for the last 4 days. We had deer on our cameras from April till mid June, then didn't have but one pic of a deer from June 18th till monday. The cameras worked the whole time taking pics of other critters but no deer. We had absolutly no water on the lease and our leaser took all the livestock off the lease. We didn't see any dead deer and only saw 2 deer in 4 days. Its looking like a bad year for us.

If your directly S. of town that area does not have any Anthrax. The Anthrax I'm aware of is West and North of town mainly in the Wilhelm ln. area and North. We have seen a few dead deer on our property. The simple fact is that they don't have anything to eat. We are in real bad shape folks. Most of the cattle are gone, but we can't haul off the deer. We have a little chance for rain this weekend so lets keep our hopes up.

Found two bucks dead next to the water trough, and one next to a small tank. found a spotted fawn about 200 yards from the water tank.

Our place is across from the crompton's ranch, the said they found 15 dead deer on there place. the dead deer looked real poor on our place.

Let us know when you figure out what happened.

Just a question, but how can you be positive that an area doesnt have Anthrax?

Any hemorrhaging or anything, or did they look like they just died from starvation. Could be aflatoxin levels too.

I don't know if you can be positive a place doesn't have it. All you can do is go by the history of the place. If a place has never had any animals die of Anthrax it is probably safe to assume it's not there. It lives in the soil and it's not contagious so it is tough for it to move very far from the known areas. I suppose if you moved cattle from a place that has anthrax to a place that doesn't have it the cattle could carry the anthrax on their feet and spread it. That is how anthrax got moved around in the first place, but that was when hundreds of thousands of cows were being driven down the same trails year after year. That doesn't happen anymore.

Good point. I was just wondering, because I am in Wildlife Diseases right now, and we're learning about stuff like this more in depth.

Anathrax can be spread in different ways. It can get from one ranch to the next by deer moving across fences that have it and die on the ranch next door. Once it is there it is in the soil for up to 50 years and stay dorment for years till conditions are right. I do not think this was a year to have it but you never know. I was told that over 150 counties in Texas have had a case of it with the most common areas being around Carta Valley and the counties in Southwest Texas. Deer can inhale anthrax or can consume vegetation contaminate by flies that were on a anthrax killed carcass. Bones in a dead infected carcass still have anthrax in them. They always advice not to pick up skulls in areas of known outbreaks for this reason. Here is a short read on it:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/habitats/faq/diseases/disease7.phtml

Thats terrible,that country is normally full of deer.Can you haul in water?