Click for bigger image
Forget about Bigfoot. We have Bighoof. This is one of the craziest things I have seen in a while. Check out the hooves on this buck. It was hit by a truck in Wisconsin. The DNR said that high protein, specifically corn was the cause of the abnormal feet. Has anyone seen anything like this before?
Big Hoof Buck?
26
Sep
spencer
September 27, 2006 at 9:02 am
THats just wird and crazey lookin
Dahlen
September 27, 2006 at 10:12 am
Hit by a truck? Looks like a rifle entrance wound just rear of the rib cage, right above the white belly hair. No noticeable impact or crush damage.
Hooves are incredible just the same, how could he run with those hooks catching every branch and piece of saw grass?
Justin
September 27, 2006 at 10:41 am
YEA I AGREE WITH DAHLEN WHEN I HIT A DEER THE GUTS WERE ALL OVER THE ROAD AND IT WAS SPLIT IN HALF BUT THOSE ARE WEIRD SO MAYBE SOMEONE THOUGHT IT WAS WEIRD AND SHOT IT AND SAID HE HIT IT WITH A CAR
Jon
September 29, 2006 at 9:46 am
Probably a fenced animal. If a hooved animal is unable to move around their hooves will grow like this.
Dave L
October 2, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Yes, have seen this before. In 1991 I took a buck off Elk Ridge that had one foot that looked like this. The others were normal.
Derek Maestas
October 3, 2006 at 10:40 am
i would kill to kill a buck like that!!!!!!!!!
mt girl
October 3, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Yep, I have seen a doe that had hooves like this, not quite as long but atleast half of that! It was lying dead in our back field. That was in 2005
Shane
October 3, 2006 at 6:33 pm
I bowhunt less than 10 miles from where that buck was hit, and one of the neighbors there actually has a picture of that buck from last winter just after gun season. The picture shows that the buck had weird hooves last winter, but they werent quite as long. Everyone around figured that the buck was eating an excess of some type of mineral block.
Daniel
October 6, 2006 at 3:51 am
I haven’t seen an elk’s hoofs like that but I have seen “wild” horse hooves like that while hiking in the Adirondacks towards Virginia State’s highest point. There are “wild” diminuative ponies along the trail whose hooves are all like that.
Mtn. Boy
October 6, 2006 at 9:30 pm
It looks like elf feet
Chuck Feney
October 7, 2006 at 12:47 am
I”m a certified professional farrier and if it were a horse it would be foundered from too much rich food (grain) and too soft of pastures. I’ve treated many overfed, stall bound horses and particularly ponies.
Jon
October 8, 2006 at 7:48 am
looks like a lazy deer..
Jerry
October 8, 2006 at 2:19 pm
I shot a 4×4 bull that was like that on its right side And his horns were deformed on the same side. In northwest colorado 2002.
Greg Benson
October 8, 2006 at 8:44 pm
We had a cow moose hanging around our house in Kenai, Alaska with hooves like that. That was the only deformity visible. Didn’t slow her down any. She had two calves with normal feet.
stephanie cooper
October 9, 2006 at 6:51 pm
dude that is really weird
J R RUDE
October 9, 2006 at 9:46 pm
I SHOT AN ANTELOPE BUCK WITH HOOVES SIMILIAR TO THIS IN 2001 IN EASTERN MONTANA.
THISIS A GREAT PICTURE.
Little Deb
October 10, 2006 at 5:33 am
Looks like were feeding the deer too much genetically engineered corn…………..
JUSTIN
October 10, 2006 at 11:27 am
JERRY
HEY JERRY POST #13 HEY WHERE AT IN NORTHWEST COLORADO PLEASE LET ME KNOW BECAUSE I LIVE IN NORTHWEST COLORADO AND I HAVE SEEN A SPIKE BULL WITH HOOVES LIKE THIS
Angry Bear
October 10, 2006 at 4:51 pm
Finally something with bigger feet than me! lol you know where I grew up we had lots of “Sand Hill” bucks their feet would have long hooves but I dont recall ever seeing anything like that – pretty interesting – kinda like the hook claw found on Velocaraptors…
Javan
October 11, 2006 at 2:42 am
i was just out archery hunting and seen a doe with about 20 mushroom looking growths out of her back. Any idea what they are? they looked kinda soft to me,and the biggest was about 5 inches round
nmmountainjack
October 11, 2006 at 1:05 pm
This condition occurs with horses if they are kept in a pen all the time. Normally the hoofs wear down naturally but if they do not get sufficient movement to wear them down or have a ferrier trim the hooves, they will get like this. I wonder if this was a pen trapped deer?
TDJ
October 11, 2006 at 8:16 pm
You can wrap a turd in tenfoil but it is still a turd, a deer can have nice hooves but it doesn’t matter if it has horns like that!
mark gilmour
October 12, 2006 at 5:28 pm
I have seen this before with cattle, usually what happens is that they eat to much grain, and become fondered.
Jerry
October 15, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Justin I shot that Bull up on Coulter Mesa North of Rifle Colorado 2nd season 2002.
jeff
October 15, 2006 at 11:49 pm
floundered. food was was way too hot.
Mighty Hunter
October 19, 2006 at 4:01 pm
That is one wierd white tail.
austin
October 21, 2006 at 10:25 pm
those are some wierd hoofs funny lokin to
austin
October 21, 2006 at 10:26 pm
lol
sawmill
October 22, 2006 at 9:01 am
I got a buck this fall that had one front hoof like that,I saved the foot.
David M Jaeger
October 23, 2006 at 7:04 pm
yes.. it happens when they founder on protein…
Jcarr
November 13, 2006 at 11:55 am
Never seen nothing like it in Georgia. Kinda Cool looking.
michael
November 15, 2006 at 9:47 am
those look really cool i shot a elk that had the same feet
Grizzed
December 27, 2006 at 11:27 am
This is known as foundered. This happens to horses also when they get into a grain bin and over eat. Doesn’t matter if their in the open or not after that, the hoof just continues to grow.
Chris
June 19, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Very weird altho i do agree…… it does look like a rifle wont by his rib cage… but not a bad buck
grammy54
July 6, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I have a white tail doe that comes around my property and her hoofs are also curled and pretty long. I found out from the Game Commissioner that it’s very painful and eventually the deer will not be able to walk and just die of starvation. It is caused by people feeding them corn and not allowing them to browse and move around – they just hang out in the developments here in Pa. They will eventually have to be put down.
domonique
July 21, 2007 at 5:48 pm
well at least the buck is no longer in pain that must have been excruciatingly painful to walk let alone run with those deformed hooves
geezer
January 24, 2008 at 10:04 am
Y’all dont seem to understand this is NOT genetic but man made by baiting/feeding or captivity. Its not cool or neat; its cruel and caused by people…most likely lazy hunters who bait. Those who find them with one foot like this its just that the other ‘normal’ hooves have been lucky enough to wear down. I enjoy hunting but on foot and not over bait.
Applied Equine Podiatrist
February 10, 2008 at 2:48 pm
This is a severe case of founder. This is also seen in horses but starts as laminitis, a detachment of wall to dermal layer and results in the rotatation of bone. It is caused from inflammation from the feed it consumed. Poor baby.
Lee Dion
February 18, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I too provide natural equine hoof care services and agree with Chuck Feney. This is exactly what a foundered equine hoof looks like and is caused by an overload of carbohydrates in the diet among other causes but this is the primary cause
samantha
February 19, 2008 at 10:17 am
WOW thats amazing!
Wayne
March 30, 2008 at 2:46 pm
We have a young buck with the very same hooves that we see in our area about 1-2 times per week. He seems to be in good physical shape except for the hooves. We’ve noticed he now has to swing his back legs from side to side to walk and it causes an abnormal hip movement. If it were possible to sedate him, could this problem be corrected by trimming the hooves down to as normal as possible? Or will they just continue to grow back? Maybe an equine hoof specialist has an idea. By the way, we’ve seen this buck raise up on his back legs to eat from a tree.
jess
April 26, 2008 at 7:36 am
hooves on any animal are just like finger nails. They contantly grow but under natural circumstances they will be kept at a normal length (ie: a wild deer’s hooves would be kept short by constantly walking around). If the ground is not hard or the animal is not very active, they will grow faster then they wear away. As has happened with this animal. They will curl like that because of the pressure. The same thing has happened to this horse:
http://www.animalsheltering.org/images/graphics/asmMJ00_feature5.jpg
averie
July 7, 2008 at 11:08 am
how the heck did that thing walk??
gpsif
August 11, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Wow! poor thing probebly got like deer founder or something crazy like that i know a girl who had a horse that foundered and his hooves were simmaler
Jack Bateman
April 6, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I’m looking at a doe from a trail camera with feet just like that buck. Although they aren’t quite that long. I was looking up to see what I could find and found this site. thought it was funny I named this doe bigfoot also.
Cindy
September 28, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Hi, My 12y/o daughter just shot a 8 point buck in Michigan during the youth hunt that had curved hooves just like the buck in your picture. We knew it was unique. Everyone that’s seen the buck immediately commented on the hooves. We wondered what would cause this. Interesting to say the least especially for a first time hunter.