How Long for a deer to heal from a gunshot wound?

[AndyM]

My dad shot a buck on Sunday afternoon. One shot is all it took. We do all of our own processing. Last night we were cutting away and I got the right hind quarter. Started cutting away and I noticed a hole. I lifted up part of the leg and it was all clotted and dark. Found an actual hole thru the meat, gray in color with hair all around it. Talk about stink..ooof. that was rotten. How long does it take for a hide to heal? The hole in the hide was about the diameter of a penny. I'm assuming somebody tried poaching this deer and it ran, as it wasn't a vital shot. Any opinions?

[96trigger]

I could have been a gore from another buck also. I have skinned some bucks that look like they have been through war.

[bobbymalone]

probably depends a lot on the wound. If it was really stinky, the deer was probably suffering from a bad infection. I bet it would have never healed and eventually brought the deer down.

[lawdog]

Hard to say, also hard to say the quality of the meat you've got now. My brother had a deer that he shot that had a slug in its neck from several days prior. We know this as it was another guy in our party that had shot at him. The butcher cut it open around the wound and found it to be infected and he threw the whole deer away, wouldn't butcher even the apparently good meat.

[zepman]

I tagged a doe two years ago with a slug buried in her neck. Just a little hole in the hide and completely healed over (meat wise). Must have been from the previous year...she was a big healthy deer with no apparent problems and all the meat around the slug was 100% fine. Some tuff critters!!