TARGET Buck Found DEAD – Sept 30, 2025 – Kenny Bevans

Well, it’s September 30th and I just got down to my lease in Indiana. I was checking my camera, changing the battery, and got the worst news I could’ve seen — my target buck was laying dead right out in the soybean field. I don’t have any idea what killed him, so I called the conservation officer to come out and take a look. Definitely not the way I wanted to start the day.

Our season opens this Wednesday, and I really thought maybe it was EHD because I couldn’t see any kind of wound on him. But after the CO checked him out, he said there was no foul play, no EHD, and no CWD. He thinks the buck was probably injured off the road and just had internal damage that eventually caught up with him. He was bedded in kind of an odd way where he died, and the coyotes hadn’t really gotten to him yet — just a few buzzards and flies starting to show up.

It’s a tough way to kick off the season, especially when it’s one of the bucks you’ve been chasing. But that’s part of it — things you can’t control happen. God willing, another good one will show up soon. I know a lot of people are finding dead deer right now and dealing with EHD in different areas, so we’re all kind of in the same boat.

Hopefully next week, when Indiana’s archery season opens, I’ll have a better update.