The three incipient limbs (including two pedes and one manus, apparently; from the photos it seems that the monstrosities do not include anything more proximal than tarsals and carpals) are not all that rare, actually, in certain mammal lineages.  They occur every now and then in sheep and cattle.  It is rather surprising that these people in Wisconsin, who have been looking at deer all their lives, have never seen anything like this one.

I am not sure "functional" is the right term for those limbs.  Apparently they had some motor capability, but that does not mean that the deer used them for anything.

Much more surprising is Rick Lisko's claim that the deer was a hermaphrodite.  It is a pity that he had it gutted, before biologists could examine it.  At least they can still do some sort of DNA test.

I wonder how much Bass Pro Shops are going to pay for the remains.  They have a kind of natural history museum at their HQ complex near Springfield, MO.  My mother-in-law, who goes to the restaurant there from time to time, reports that the museum is over-priced and not very interesting.  But, hey, if they have things like seven-legged deer, that is pretty spectacular, no?

Notice, in passing, the unhappy story about nine wolves killed during deer season, linked to the article in the Portage Daily Register.

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!