I was on stand the other evening, when a probably 1 1/2 year old buck came through. It had a fully developed 3 point antler of fair size on the right side and no visible sign of even a pedicle on the left side of his head. I've never seen this in the 40 years I've been deer hunting. I'm wondering how unusual that is? The deer was only 15 feet away from me and I had a clear view of his head for at least 3 minutes. I kept looking, but there was nothing there.
Could be a Duck...Half Doe /Half Buck... :eek: No but just wondering if maybe he had some sort of injury that kept him from developeing the other side? I had one come with in 20 yards last week but his other side was snapped off about 11/2 inchs on one side...We have a Buck and a doe in our area that both have a missing right back leg...The buck was around for 2 full years now...I thought maybe the same gun hunter shot both of these deer and never sighted in His/her rifle...Last year my buddy emailed me pics of this buck and he had a Non typical rack but this year his antlers are much better looking from what he told me..
Didn't seem to have any injury that was visible. I've seen many with deformed antler on one side or a spike, but this one had no visible pedicle. Seemed unusual to me.
Might be a genetic mutation.
Weezy did you have your glasses on?...lol
I haven't seen you post anything in a coon's age.
Tell Scott I hope he gets permission to take a crack at his back yard buck.
God bless,Mudd
Hi Mudd,
I've been kind of busy with some other things. Hope to start posting a little more. Only need glasses for reading but was wondering myself at the time if I needed some. Saw your post on lowering weight on a bow. It would be a lot cheaper to hit the gym and lift some weights so you could pull 25#'s or so. L.O.L.
Never seen it on deer but have seen Elk like that. I was told by a bioligist that it was the result of some type of parasite.
Ive seen (and eaten :D ) at least two roe deer bucks like that in the last 3 years around here. Cant tell what it is that causes this. They had underdeveloped buttons on one side and full antlers on the other, my guess is its genetic and one of them was has passe dit on to the other.
I saw a Buck(?) a number of years ago that had no antlers or spots for them. Saw him once out chasing a bunch of does in a field. He was a long ways out and I thought it may have been a spike. Then a week later I was pulling a stand near the field and had "it" trot by right under me grunting like crazy.
You should be excited! you saw a 3pt unicorn.What a experience...LOL I would say it's a genetic issue.
Sometimes the odd things happen in the life of a deer! I've 3 main beams on a deer. And just thing about the 4 horn goats!
I killed a deer last Saturday that I was positive it was a mature doe.
But, I walked up to it after it was down and could smell "rut"! I thought that was weird...but it was even weirder when I went to dress her and saw she was actually a he! I combed my fingers through his hair and there were in fact tiny hard antlers under the hair.
This deer was not a button buck. He was too big, he was clearly rutting (stinky and stained tarsals), and had hard tiny spikes on his head not skin covered buttons.
Guess it is as possible to have an antlerless buck as it is to have an antlered doe.
watched 2 twin bucks 3 year ago like that. one had 3 points on left, the other had 3 points on the right. both were killed opening morning & got to field dress both. no sign of antler on the other side for either of them.
Got pics of one. We have a pic of him last year with one spike. Too bad his rack doesn't match his body.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/Oneantler.jpg)
Thanks for all the responses. At least I know I'm not crazy now or do I? L.O.L.
thanks guys;
Bob
I had a buck under my stand years ago with out antlers. I let him walk. Maybe he would have more growth the next year. :dunno:
Bill,
That trail cam pic of the Coon looks like he's saying utt ohh we been caught! :eek:
Keefer: Don't know what's going on this year but we have coons all over the place. I even set traps for them and they don't show up til after dark most nights. It's legal to shoot them at night in NH with a bow so some night when it's not too cold I may just bring some food to munch on, a good light and wait for them to show up.
I can't help you but I have seen this before.
Bill,
between that buck and the big doe you've posted, it seems your NH deer are very well fed. Are they generally big bodied?
Shot a 3 by none several years ago, looked like it had been injured as a spike and the hair had grown over it the next year. there was a pedical down under the hide, just no antler growing from it.
I have seen two such unicorns. I watched them on and off through the season a few years ago and then I found out they were extremely bad luck. I was driving home from hunting and had just pulled onto the main highway. As I crossed a bridge one of them (the smaller one)jumped up from the embankment and right in front of my Jeep and totaled it. Only deer I have ever hit with a vehilcle :( . Anyway It was a four point on one side and had a button on the other. Appeared normal other than that.
I forgot to add - I missed Thanksgiving dinner because of the collision and had a heck of a time getting someone to pick me up because they all thought I was joking.
ive killed a couple of them in years past...had a one sided forky on film last year as well as a one sided spike doe...she's still here this year with twin fawns...killed a spike doe years ago that was in velvet in nov...three years ago i killed a 18 inch wide forky with a third main beam spike about 3 inches long...not sure what's going on around here !!!
my son killed a 5x1 bull this year that was not damaged...the pedistol grew out the side of his head and he had a second skull growing around it...he sure tast good!!!
I have seen bucks with one antler and no pedical on the other side in Pulaski County, Georgia (middle Ga.) My brother said he thought it was genetic and everybody shot them on sight..At a WMA in Florida I saw a 40-45lb buck a guy was checking in that had 2 tiny buckshot sized bumps on his head, the Game Bioligist pulled the jaw bone and aged the deer at 3 1/2 years old??
Dirtguy: One of the nice things about NH, despite lower deer densities, is that the deer are generally very healthy. Where I am hunting is my own private 23 acres. It is landlocked and all the land around it is pretty much posted or hard to get to so hunting pressure is low so the deer put on some age. This year the deer do seem to be heftier for some reason but it is not uncommon for a button buck to dress out at about 80#. I have killed 3 button bucks in a row and they were all very nearly "adult" size and are great eating.
Yes. In 1998 I arrowed a buck in Mazzoura that had 4 points on one side and no obvious pedicle on the other side. Evidently he probably got hit by a car or ??? and had lost his whole pedicle in a previous year. The hide had grown back over and was smooth like nothing was ever there!
Got this photo off the 1st game camera I had an old 35 MM.
Saw this buck one morning right under my tree for about 5 minutes His right antler was growing out right above the eye socket.
(http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii185/bofish-il/odddeer.jpg)
He's a pretty big deer. Take him out, tag him and enjoy the venison, knowing that he won't be propagating.
I'd guess it's a deformity, but what ever it is doesn't sound good.