Weirdest Deer

Should I let my boys shoot him this year?

  • Yes, purify the gene pool

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No, he’ll be really unique next year

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

ElCidAviator

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2021
Messages
168
Location
Indiana
We spotted this guy on our trail cameras. I've never seen any abnormality like this.

Do you know what would have caused this? Birth defect? Trauma?

Post up some pics of your odd ball deer.
 

Attachments

  • 14C379F3-2472-4D1C-A90C-37CF0809D138.jpeg
    14C379F3-2472-4D1C-A90C-37CF0809D138.jpeg
    2.5 MB · Views: 971
  • 97881712-45C3-4396-857F-812A9D00901A.jpeg
    97881712-45C3-4396-857F-812A9D00901A.jpeg
    3.4 MB · Views: 949
That is pretty odd and crazy.

Here's my oddest buck I've seen. Little Coues whitetail buck. Guessing damage on his right side when he started growing. When I first saw him I thought his ear was straight down and hurt, but as he turned I saw it was a club through my binos. After the shot he ran through a bunch of mesquites and trashed his velvet on his normal side
FE72AE8C-6901-4893-8C89-6120BE54E772.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Are you sure it is a buck.....awfully skinny face on it.....may be a doe with antlers...
Great question, I assumed he was a buck because; he had antlers and was in a bachelor pack with two other spikes, but he definitely could be a doe growing antlers. I'll see if I can spot his meat and potatoes on the videos.

Sqeeeeze I have seen irregular racks but that one takes the cake!

@ElCidAviator if that buck still has that crazy looking rack next year I would take it out of the gene pool

He'll definitely be taken out of the gene pool if we get the opportunity as he's a great candidate for my boys to shoot this year. This will be their first year hunting, so they just need a good, safe experience, where lots of learning occurs, not trophies. But, I do think he would make a really cool mount, just because of the uniqueness. There's just no need to keep him around with so many better looking spike bucks showing up this year.

It's possible that the pedicles (where antler grows from) were injured. Maybe when dropping last year's rack? If they ain't got a clear area to grow from it'll grow around injured area and look funky but it's normally just one side.

I'm 99% sure he's a yearling, so no rack last year. Anything is possible, but the boys he's hanging out with are all spikes. I was thinking an injury as well, maybe he had some head trauma and lived? I'm imagining him running full bore head down into the side of a car as a young fawn and this is the result…lol.
 
He'll definitely be taken out of the gene pool if we get the opportunity as he's a great candidate for my boys to shoot this year. This will be their first year hunting, so they just need a good, safe experience, where lots of learning occurs, not trophies. But, I do think he would make a really cool mount, just because of the uniqueness. There's just no need to keep him around with so many better looking spike bucks showing up this year.
Be sure to get pics for us.My son is grown and don't hunt anymore,go figure.
So I get to enjoy the smiles and adventures of others kids as they take animals.
 
That is pretty odd and crazy.

Here's my oddest buck I've seen. Little Coues whitetail buck. Guessing damage on his right side when he started growing. When I first saw him I thought his ear was straight down and hurt, but as he turned I saw it was a club through my binos. After the shot he ran through a bunch of mesquites and trashed his velvet on his normal sideView attachment 378456
Here are my two contributions to the 'weird deer' photo contest. Both were killed by the same hunter on my lease (pictured with the Phantom of the Opera buck). The first pic is a deer we'd been watching for several years before Doc finally harvested him. The beautiful 8-point has a condition called "piebald" in which all or part of their hide exhibits a condition like albinism. It can even occur in reptiles.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7911.JPG
    IMG_7911.JPG
    273 KB · Views: 239
  • Doc's Phantom of the Opra Buck_1.JPG
    Doc's Phantom of the Opra Buck_1.JPG
    145 KB · Views: 239
I'd take it out........I don't have any pictures of it because we only saw it once and it was before trail cameras but we had a very nice 3 point blacktail come through during rut. One side was a misshapen lump about 4" in diameter, the other side was a normal antler. My wife was hunting and didn't get on him quick enough and he disappeared. After that year we begin seeing bucks with one antler and a lump on the other- all on the same side. Now I have read genetics are passed from does, but have no idea how true that is. I'll stick to cleaning up gene pool until I know for sure! Although I'm not sure with blacktail how much control you have on the gene pool anyway. It's rare for me to see what I can say for sure is the same buck in consecutive years unless it's in the home field.
 
Top