Mystery solved! Our fairly new neighbor below us came up to explain. He went hunting for about a week on the dry side of the mountains with no luck. Came home to find a 4-point buck in his backyard, which he shot. He tacked the hide to a pallet next to his house, but it was at ground level, hence the dogs ripping it off and dragging it around. The head he had in his shop until some folks came by for an evening at his firepit. He took it out to show it off, then set it down and forgot to put it back in the shop, hence the dogs dragging that home. He did retrieve the head from our other neighbor and I told him he could go fight the coyotes for the hide if he was so inclined (we dumped it way out back in the bushes). He also reports the dogs are diligently digging where he buried the guts, and I know the neighbor pup was smelling pretty rank the other day, so she may have hit paydirt. Anyway, we had a beer and a chuckle over it all. He promises to bring us up some venison.
