So in Philadelphia the hunters don't even have to go outside the deer come to your house? By the way I don't hunt so I'm sad the deer had to be killed.

I would like to see a 300 lb deer from my treestand. Wonder how the rack scored? Backstraps, yummy!

Might have been a mule deer. They do get that big.

It would be very unusual to see a mule deer in eastern PA. (Maybe if it escaped from a zoo or wildlife ranch.) Hope the house isn't full of ticks now (several diseases people can catch.)

With the growing numbers of whitetail deer in the US, there will be more conflicts like this. The most common will be collisions with cars/trucks/trains, but there will be more home & store invasions. (More whitetails in the US now than when Columbus came - few predators, limited hunting in populated areas, yummy crops to eat, etc.)

AT.... to the best of my knowledge PA doesn't have mulies. But they do have some big WT.. especially in the populated areas outside of Philly where hunting is pretty restricted.

300 pound Whitetail is not big, its HUGE!

No mule deer east of Omaha.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mule+deer+range&view=detail&id=CE4646ADC63031B05A3A37A74CEC5028273D1F5B&first=1

They must have locked the deer in a room with scales so they could ask how much it weighed. That's probably a record for a deer.

It was probably someone's pet when it was a fawn, and was over-fed. My former neighbor used to hand-feed the local deer oatmeal cookies.

Wow, who got to keep the meat and rack?

Nobody gets the meat. Once they euthanize a deer the meat is tainted. I have been on hand for a couple of separate deer incidents and each time, both the vet and the DNR agent would not allow anyone to take anything from the deer. They stood by and witnessed as the city workers dug a hole and buried the carcass.

"And if you have some cut rate insurance; you may not be covered from mayhem like me."

Tumbleweed,

Whitetails do get that big and bigger. The record is over 400 lbs.

No muleys in PA; too far east.

OH DEER!!!

You sound like a real REAL @!$%#

It's a shame they had to put it "down". The police couldn't handle it so they called Wild Life. Question??? Do you think Tazing the deer would've worked til they could tie it down? Doesn't Wild Life have tranquilizers?

Just wondering

"Surprise intruder breaks into Philadelphia home: 300-pound deer'

That's some overweight deer!!!

He was probably looking for that left-over Philly Cheese Steak...and a side of left-over onion rings....

300lbs is not heavy for whitetails up north, but in many parts of the country, there simply isn't enough food, especially during the winter months, to maintain that size of an animal. Consequently, the deer in those areas are much smaller.

Good One Sirlafalot.

The guy actually thinks his homeowners insurance will pay for this?????? LOL They will use the clause that excludes damage from "all pest animals." While most people would think of mice and rats, insurance companies will construe it to cover any wide animal.

Insurance. This ought to be good. Guy makes claim, insurance pays and then triples his rates, unless they drop him outright. It's great to have the PA Insurance Commish watching your back. (that was a joke). There's no way any deer in PA will weigh 300lb either.

Dear ME!

Obviously the officers got hungry, LMAO!

Putting a large, wild animal "to sleep" is not as easy as one may think. When the animal is already frightened and injured, the process is very unpredictable. The proper dose is hard to predict unless the weight of the animal is known. If a dart is used, the amount of drug that actually gets in the bloodstream can vary (depends on where it hits, how well the dart works.) Too much, and the animal dies - too little and it thrashes around for a long time, injuring people and itself, causing more damage. The effect of a particular type and dose of tranquilizer on a particular animal is more art than science.

A Deer that size in a confined space and frightened can be very dangerous. Especially if it happens to be a buck. Their antlers are far more than decoration and Deer will fight if they are cornered or feel threatened. I would say they made every effort to get the animal out of the house alive, but having officers run through by it's antlers or cut up by it's sharp hooves is a no a good option, so venison anyone?

cheryls - while I agree it is unfortunate and even sad when they have to put animals down, (like when all those rare animals got out that that guy was keeping a few months back and most were killed by police), and that one shouldn't kill to just kill, but this is a deer.

Not to say they don't matter but fact is the deer population is exploding and needs to be reduced. Taking out this one deer is not a big deal. Just like mailman8 said. Going thru the ordeal of trying to sedate and remove the animal was more costly and risky than it was worth and was better to just put this animal down; especially if there was not an easy way for it to leave on its own.

The deer population will get by just fine. And yes I love animals and think there are things that we could do better to take care of animals and the enviroment but I also support those who want to go out and hunt animals like deer that have an abundant population because it helps control the population which is good for the deer and people. That and most hunters are very responsible and it is their love of hunting that provides the most funding for wildlife conservation that helps create protected areas and reserves where animals like this deer can thrive.

Again if this was some rare animal then yes need to sedate and remove but it was a deer which are very common and have over population issues. I honestly think the seasons need to be longer and if you really want to be upset you should be mad that the many of the natural predators have been hunted down or removed which has caused this problem to happen. We are reaping what we sowed. Remember there is a bigger picture out there as it relates to this deer and that needs to be considered.

It is time

If you know anything about deer, you know how overpopulated they are anyhow so killing that deer is not exactly going to endanger them. In fact...ask a farmer what THEY think of the deer. To a farmer they are "Rats on Stilts".

But in all fairness...300 pounds? I'm from the midwest and we get some huge bucks. I'm guessing it was a non-hunter that saw the deer and guesstimated it's size. Either that or he can say he got a Pope and Young without leaving home!

Thank you Randoo. Most people out there what whine when a deer is hunted or "put down" don't understand the threats that deer have to humans and property (including vehicle impacts on highways). They do not have natural predators anymore - which used to be coyotes and wolves. Now they thrive and their populations are out of control. Humans need to control their populations where nature no longer does.

They should have dispatched the deer right away instead of waiting 90 minutes for the game people to arrive.

Randoo

To a farmer they are "Rats on Stilts".

We've had pet rats, and we live where deer wander around and eat pansies on people's front porches. Rats are smarter.

300lb is pretty big but you also have tto realize that most hunters weigh the deer after it is gutted. I'm sure if it was a 200+ lb field dressed deer it would probably top out at around 300. Plus, it could have been 275 and they rounded up.

It is too hard to calculate the right dart dosage? That is only a story that has come up in the last couple of years, no one ever said that before. Did the substance to put large animals down change? And it is apparent that since the deer was in a confined space, someone decided they wanted the rack. Maybe the homeowner.

Why did they kill the deer, was in injuried? They should have tranquilized the deer and taken it to safety.

"Awe shucks, Mah. We couldn't get the deer out so we just killed it....Good news is...we have supper!" WTF!?! No tranquilizers were available??? So f'ed up.

even the village idiot knows you can tranq a deer and being in the house it wouldn't be hard to find

take the easy way out and kill it drag it out and if drugs were used to kill it then even the meat isn't worth the time to skin it

what a shame

Agree with dorkkwadd

To those doubting the weight, first of all, Tracey G. is spot on. Hunters record DRESSED weight, after insides are removed. To address comments such as "...the deer must have jumped on a scale before they killed it...", no, fish and game would have weighed the animal and determined age of such a magnificent animal. I am both an avid hunter AND a lover of the outdoors and all animals in it. Contrary to what PETA wants the world the think the two are NOT mutually exclusive. I shoot many, many more deer with a camera than I do with a gun (I kill one deer, two wild hogs, and two turkeys every year, never more, because that's exactly what my wife and I will eat in a year)I would have loved to have seen this buck in the wild, it had a good thirty-five pounds on the one I got last year.

And for all you borderline animal rights activists, if the deer COULD have been safely removed it WOULD have been. The article states that there were several attempts to get the animal to run out on its own. The simple fact is that tranquilizing wild animals isn't like you see in the movies, especially a panicked 300 pound creature with great natural weapons VERY capable of killing a human being. Yes, if I'd seen it in the wild I'd have shot it, but in THIS case I would very much have loved to see this Grand Old Gentleman go free. If all of you had read the article it mentioned a fair-to-substantial amount of blood throughout the house so, yes, the poor thing WAS injured.

Not sure about Pennslvania, but in Indiana, a 300 pound whitetail would be large, very large, in fact. However, it is not at all out of the question, especially in an urban area. Most hunters talk about a deers weight after field dressing. To be 300 pounds, on the hoof, is roughly a 240 lb deer once it has been field dressed. As a taxidermist, I normally get at least two a year in that range. Also, with it being an urban deer, it has likely come to not be afraid of people. As the Rut is starting to come in (Breeding season for most of you that don't understand, which is obvious by most of the posts), bucks become extremely aggressive. An agressive deer that is not afraid of humans is dangerous, to both himself and humans. Too bad he had to be put down, but that was probably the most reasonable option.

Treat the animal just like any other home invader and shoot to kill.

But, this one you can put in your freezer and snack on for months.

(it's an animal for pete sake)

Sounds like a fish story to me.

With winter around the corner, the deer was looking for a nice freezer to hang out in.

May I join you for dinner?

Yup no need to let it go to waste. In college my room mate brought home a deer from a hunting trip and we (3 of us) had all the venison we could eat. Found it to be really good as the meat in hamburger helper dinners. :)

Damn Whitetails! In my area they're getting to be as much a nuisance as Fire Ants. Often, in the am, I'll look out and find 30 or 40 in my yard. Damn critters surround the house. I'll tell 'em to move along, and they generally paw the ground while giving me a "go to hell look". Damn Whitetails! I don't trust 'em.

Here's a deer, picking on a dog that was minding its own business, all the while ignoring the cat that was messing with her fawn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADGn1GABF0Q

Didn't bother to read the article did you before commenting.

it was put down

I love Deer. As Dinner!

I hit one in Michigan once, doing about 70 up US23. It spun me around 1 1/2 times, ended up facing the direction I'd come from. Luckily there was hardly anyone on the road at that hour (around midnite), and the car still ran, so I went on to work. Next day took the car to the State Farm adjustor ofc and they took one look and said it was totaled. They also said I was very lucky to come out of it unhurt. Heavy damage to frt bumper, grille, cracked windshield, and some damage to hood, rt door, rt quarterpanel, roof. Oh, the deer was DOA in the middle of the road.

For a lot of smaller trucking firms, deer hits are the single largest insurance issue they have.

Then get a fork lift into the house and then out again. They took a more practical approach.

Tranquillizing a frightened animal is NOT as easy as the uninformed seem to think. It may not react to the drug because of the amount of adrenaline or you can give it a little to much and it dies. It is a very tricky proposition, the out come is not certain. An under tranquillized deer may seem to be out and when you walk up to it, it may well put it's antlers through your ribs. Then you die. A frightened or cornered Deer can bite you, cut you up with it's hooves and/or use it's antlers to run you through, they can be very dangerous when cornered. The dosage depends on many factors as well as body weight and you must be very close in you estimates. As I said, too much and it is just as dead and a bullet to the head.

Deer typically don't respond well the sedation, more often than not, they die from it. The drugs combined with stress level and fright cause their heart rate to go through the roof and they stroke out. If you can't get it to leave on it own power, tranquillizing them, because of their unique physiology will probably end the same way, a dead Deer.

Not if they took it to a butcher shop. Pa. has a good population of deer. I think it's bow season there now, not sure. It's always easy to tell because you see deer running around with an arrow in it's butt. great American Sportsman.