The only thing wrong other than the end of the nose missing was a rodent had chewed in a couple small places on the back of one of the tines. When I found the head, the tips of the antlers were stuck in the ground with the teeth pointing skyward.

Looks to be in great shape for three years in the woods. I would do the stand up thing I try to contact the guy.

Keep it, tell your buddies he wasn't big enough for you to mount!

I would try and contact him. If he wanted it he could either come get it, send money to cover shipping, or ship it to him C.O.D.

I fixed it in my original post, but it was out there for 2 years. It was still in very good shape. After I restored it, it looked really good, at least to me.

Haha, that's funny

Here are a couple more from when I first found it. You can see some green on the antlers and the tip was buried and very dark. Also the skull was stained but the picture doesn't show it too much.

That's in good shape for being out that long. I would tell the guy I got it and if he's interested he can come get it. He might never pick it up.

If I thought the guy actully shot it I would ask him if he wanted it. If not, on the cabin wall.

I agree with Mark,if he is so far away he may just let it be though.

Kind of like fishing, you have to bring it in to claim it. The skull is your to do what you want with it. If i found it and a good friend or relative shot it then I would let them know and give it to them. If it was someone I didn't like then I would let them know that they are a bad shot and a lazy tracker, and I would keep it or put it up at the club. If you want to let the guy know you found it just to close the case for him that would probably be nice but he will want the trophy

I am 100% sure the guy shot it. Another club member shot at it a week or so before and missed (He never misses but the deer shook him up). He was helping track it and went to get the truck. He parks and hears his friend walking up the hill so he gets out and leaves his gun in the truck. Turns out, it was the buck and it walked up on him. He confirmed it was the deer we were hunting and all had pictures of. The guy that shot it kept looking for it for several days and has been sick about it ever since.

Try your best to contact him. I shot one that was found the following year by another member. I sure was thankful for the return

Ok, the rest of the story:

A lot of things went through my mind, but I texted his friend right away, after I found it, then told the other members in the club that I found the guy's deer. I took it home and restored it, the best I could.

My plan was to put it in the clubhouse and then maybe after a few years either give it to the guy or just forget it. A week or so ago, I got a text from the guy and he nicely asked if he could have it and offered to pay for it. I made him confirm it was the deer he shot, which I already knew it was. He sent me game camera pics of the deer.

He said he wanted to get it shoulder mounted. That was the turning point in my mind. He paid to have it shipped to him and he said that was about the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him. He got it a couple days ago and was so excited. He told me he had stopped drinking and he seemed like a different person. I always got along with him and didn't have any issues with him.

I knew it would mean much more to him than anyone else. He explained why he got out of the club and apologized for the way it happened (long story).

I knew if the roles were reversed, that's what I would want someone to do for me. I did not pursue contacting him directly since I knew his friend would tell him. I also knew if the deer was that important, he would make the effort to contact me.

In the end, I'm happy with the way it turned out, even though I was planning to nail it to the clubhouse wall.

I tend to agree with Troy. That is a clubhouse deer. He wasn't a member when it was recovered so I don't think he is entitled to it.

Now, it's not that big of a deal, so if you think he is going to cry about it, let him have it, but if it were me and I wasn't in the club, I wouldn't feel like I should have a right to it.

Should've found it when he shot it or stayed in the club if he wanted that badly.

That was the exact conclusion I had come to, even though I did give it back.

He got out of the club because he got hurt and was out of work for several months. He had to take care of his family rather than support his hobby. The main rub was that he kept saying he was going to pay, but never did and we had to scramble to cover what we needed. When it was mentioned about him getting back in, several members were strongly against it.

You did well.

Ask yourself this. if you had shot the deer? what would you want the guy to do that found it? Pretty simple if you ask me.

glad it worked out

You're a good man mman.