Did someone decapitate a deer in Bluffton on U.S. 278? (And why?)

The short answer: We can’t be sure, although reports of a dead deer — intact, at first, but later headless — have surfaced during the past few days on social media.

Joy Nelson of Bluffton Police Department said she saw a headless deer somewhere between St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church and Tanger Outlets on U.S. 278 on Sunday while running errands.

“(The police department hasn’t) received any reports,” Nelson said. “But the head was clearly cut off, because it was a clean break.”

People commenting on Bluffton/Hilton Head Ask and Answer’s Facebook page made similar observations. “Sunday morning he was intact,” one person wrote. “Sunday afternoon head missing. So someone did ... that in the middle of the day on 278! ... I think that is illegal.”

It is.

According to Lt. Michael Paul Thomas of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), harvesting a deer — or parts of one — this time of year would be possession of deer parts out of season, a misdemeanor that carries up to at $470 fine. Deer season for our area, Game Zone 3, doesn’t start till Aug.15 on private lands, or Sept. 15 in the zone’s Wildlife Management Areas, according to SCDNR’s website.

Why would someone harvest a deer head on the side of the road?

For a trophy, perhaps, or as a gag to trick a fellow hunter, according to Walterboro-based taxidermist Freddy Avant.

“If a nice buck is hit and the rack is not broken, I’ve seen guys on the side of the road sawing off the horns,” Avant said. “That’s pretty common.”

But Avant said most bucks this time of year would still have velvet on their developing antlers, which are shed and regrown annually.

Thomas said a trophy this time of year “wouldn’t really make sense.”

Most bucks shed annually, he said, though there are a few that keep their horns year-round. Right now, he said, most bucks have under-developed antlers. SCDNR’s website says shedding begins in December and peaks in mid-February, and antlers become solid, hardened and fully developed in late summer or early fall.

Thomas said he wasn’t aware of any reports about headless deer in the area.

But SCDNR does works cases of illegal hunting when people shoot a deer — often at night, and out of season — take the head and leave the body, he said.

This happens across the country: San Antonio TV station KENS-5 reported on poaching and headless carcasses found in two city neighborhoods in January, and Lewis County, Washington’s The Chronicle is tracking the investigation of a poaching ring that spawned a two-state inquiry when headless animals were found in that state and neighboring Oregon.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) office in Beaufort has not had any reports of headless deer, nor has it removed any headless deer carcasses from the roadside lately, according to administrator Sarah Payne.

Can you take a deer if you hit it with your car?

Yes, you can, according to Thomas.

But you need to report the incident to SCDOT and SCDNR.

“If the deer is freshly killed, it can be given to a charitable institution or kept by the finder as long as there is an incident report from the law enforcement officials that responded to the accident,” according to S.C. DNR’s website.

Avant said a collision will often spoil the meat.

“I wouldn’t recommend (taking) one when you don’t know how long it’s been on the ground,” Thomas said.

“Especially in the hot summer months.”

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Did someone decapitate a deer in Bluffton on U.S. 278? (And why?)."