Have any of you seen any large grub-type maggots coming out of the deer's head when skull mounting them? Is this common or is it an serious issue?

Those are actually a parasite that live in the nasal cavity. Most of the deer in South Texas I have killed have always had them. I have seen as many as 10 in one deer. They make the nasal cavity from the nose all the way back to the throat their home. Not many people know about them until they crawn out after a couple of days after a kill.

I like to gross my wife out by showing her when I cape one out. My 2 girls always ask and want to see how many worms!!!

I killed a deer last year that had something that looked like small grubs in its head. Is this normal?
Yes. What you found are called nasal bots. They are normal parasites of white-tailed deer that are actually larva (i.e., maggots) from flies in the genus Cephenemyia that live in the retropharyngeal pouches of deer (i.e., pouches in the back of the throat). Adult female flies lay a packet of eggs around the mouth or nose of the deer. When the deer licks the eggs the larvae within the eggs are released and migrate to the nasal passages. In the deer, the larvae molt and mature until they are fully developed, at which time they exit the deer and fall to the ground to pupate. When adult flies emerge, the life cycle is completed. Nasal bots do not occur in domestic animals and pose no threat to huma


There ya go!!!