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Old 12-29-2011, 12:47   #2
Viking0815
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 16
Just my opinion, based on experiences hunting in Colorado, Utah and Montana my whole life..........

My guess is it was more than likely a large cat residing in the area. Hogs would have eaten the entrails right away and really roughed up the area, a bear would have eaten his fill and then buried the remainder in a shallow grave for a future buffet, I have lost deer to coyotes on several occasions and they devour everything except the hoves, horns and a few pieces of hide.

A large cat will only eat fresh meat and generally doesn't care for entrails if he has a large amount of quality meat in front of him..........I have never had a cat return to the kill site once he has eaten his fill either (I staked a few lost animals out and waited), big cats don't care for tainted meat unless they are starving.

If it is a cat that scarfed your deer, I would bet that it's probably a young Tom since your activity in the area didn't seem to be a bother. They are generally a very secretive critter that avoids any contact with humans. Also, be cautious until you confirm, young cats usually don't have the same fear of man as a more mature animal does.........anything smaller than himself is on the menu, including family pets and small children!

Not trying to blow this out of proportion.......just a bit concerned about your small hunting partner!
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