A game warden in the Wisconsin DNR investigates sightings of a possible deer with CWD. What he later discovers is something that is totally unexplained and terrifying!
I received the following account:
"While working for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in 2017 I was assigned to investigate sightings of a particular deer in the South Kettle Moraine State Forest along the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. The descriptions suggested that the deer suffered from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). There were 3 different reports, each stating that the deer was malnourished, severely injured, and had a terrible odor. My first thought was that the deer had been wounded and that gangrene had probably set in.
The part of the trail where the deer was reported was difficult to access with a vehicle so I ended up hiking. The sightings were near one of the public shelters. The most recent report was made about 24 hours previous.
I reached the shelter just as a thunderstorm began to roll in. I looked around quickly for the deer but the rain started to fall heavily and I decided to wait it out in the shelter. The shelters in this area of the park are more like little cabins, and used by backpackers. I took off my backpack and sat down. I was soon overcome by the stench of rotting flesh. It came out of nowhere and it was so strong that I was nearly gagging. I looked around the interior of the shelter to see if I could find the source.
Then I thought I saw something move past the doorway, but when I peeked outside there was nothing. The stench then disappeared as quickly as it had manifested. I waited in the shelter for maybe another 30 minutes. The storm hadn't let up but the stench suddenly returned. I didn't know what was going on but I knew there was something terribly wrong. I can't explain how I knew, I just knew.
I then heard something scrape against the side of the shelter. It was loud. I looked out through the window and I saw what looked to be white antlers. Now that didn't make any sense at all. It was early summer here in Wisconsin and bucks don't start growing their antlers until much later in the season. Even if they were early they would still be covered and felt. I figured this must be the injured deer and it certainly smelled like it was on death's door. I tried to get a better look out the window but the animal appeared to be moving towards the door of the shelter. Whatever it was I was about to see it soon enough. I couldn't shake the feeling though that there was something off about this whole situation.
I removed the gun (a 12-gauge shotgun with slugs) I had packed in to dispatch the deer. I pointed it at the door and I waited. The doorway was dark because of the storm but I could still see well enough to know that the creature that walked into view wasn't an old injured deer. It was about twice the size of a full-grown male whitetail and its body was absolutely skeletal! Its fur was long and stringy like the kind of long hair you would find on a dog and parts of it were missing fur completely. But the worst part was that its head was a skull! No hair, no skin, just bone with the antlers attached and I didn't see any eyes in its sockets! I could see it had a tongue in its jaw and its teeth looked like those of a deer but the lower jaw didn't appear to be hanging on by much and I don't know what the thing was.
It was standing there in that dark rain-soaked doorway before I fired at it. I hit that creature three times center mass and it ran away. It was weird because it didn't fall down and it didn't even falter a step it just ran. I waited another hour for the storm to pass before hiking out of there. I had never been so scared in my life. If a shotgun couldn't stop it there was nothing I could do if I ran into it again.
I finally reached my truck I had no idea what to report to my boss. I eventually decided to report that I never observed the deer. I thought that if I reported the truth it would raise red flags about my competence.
Not long after that incident, I found another position within the department as a conservation warden." L
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