Great thread that buck at the top of the thread is awesome. Yes we are always learning.

I have always heard that after healing the antlers will resume normal growth.  It is nice to see it in real life situation.  That is a heck of a nice buck you have there Barry.

Interesting stuff, thanks guys.

Barry, just curious but what's that bluish/ gray rope hanging down in front of the  pic of 2012 pic of Clubfoot. Huge buck! My first thought was a pull- up cord hanging off your stand   :D

The rope is a scent wick for pre-orbital scent facials. Gene wrote Part 1 of a 2 part article on them in the last issue of Bowhunter Magazine. Maybe it's online, I never checked. Part 2 has not been published yet but upcoming. You'll likely be impressed. bw

This morning when I started this post/thread I had no idea it would get the attention it has and I appreciate everyones photos and what you all have witnessed in your time in the field as well ...I was hoping Uncle Barry and Mike would jump in and post what they have seen in their time in the outdoors also and I thank both of you for stepping in on this ..Now a few years ago I was half way around the world adopting our second child and I was gone during the start of the rut here in Md. and was busting at the seams(not from the food I was eating) but not being able to be home to hunt...Well I was in touch with folks here on Tradgang and a good friend that was tormenting me by sending me photo's of bucks on his new trailcam ...He sent me about 8 photo's one day and one was a buck with a missing leg right up to the shoulder... I cann't remember which leg it was but it was a front one and the buck had a "Jacked Up" antler...The very next year my buddy and I were hunting together and he had his camera with him that night and took several pics of that same buck that he sent me pics of the previous year and the rack looked much more normal but I think one side was missing if I remember correctly..I'll call him to see if he saved those pics of the two seperate years but this buck looked much healthier even with a missing leg...Now the odd thing was he resembled a camel and we called him camelback because above his front shoulders his back was all swelled up looking..These are some of the most amazing creatures and how they survive things like this I'll never know..  Thanks guys for all your replys to this subject...
                     Keefers <><

We will soon have Gene's article and many additional photos on the brothersofthebow.com site. Stay tuned. The main thing about the wick is it is "velvet rack friedndly" and can be initiated as early as May with little or no damage to growing antlers. As far as I know, no one has studied wild deer interactions to scent and lure this early in the growing season. This time of year is generally associated with separation of the sexes, with bachlor groups finding areas of seclusion. Gene has shown that bucks and does communicate through the scense of smell all year long.

It is amazing how tenacious wildlife can be knowing they are surviving their injuries while dealing with the elements, inability to normally eat/drink, constant roaming predators and no sterile environment fighting off infections, etc. Ten years ago I was pre-season scouting in Sept. in Iowa. I was sitting on top of a farmers row of big round bales. Right below me, literally five feet away was a bedded, hiding fawn that obviously somehow escaped some coyotes or dogs. It's whole one hindquarter was almost completely eaten away. I had a camcorder with me and I got some footage to document it (I have no idea where the footage is now). I can't remember for sure but I believe it was the North American Whitetail Magazine TV show asked me for the footage. They aired it as a segment of their TV show so some of you might have seen it. Although I didn't get to inspect the animal closely, I question with that much trauma how the fawn didn't bleed to death. Another even more impressive example of a whitetail surviving extreme trauma, about 25 years ago I was bowhunting along the Milk River near Tampico, MT. I was just bowhunting and not filming so didn't have a camcorder with me unfortunately. I had an adult doe FOLLOWED BY A FAWN walk across the open field probably fifty yards from me. I hesitate saying this because people won't believe it but it appeared she was cut in half just in front of the hindquarters. There is a busy railroad track that goes right through this farm. I've been told if a train runs over a human arm or leg the trauma actually sears the cut through pressure. I don't know. I'm just saying what it looked like that I saw. She walked along completely normal on her front legs and was dragging what was left over on the ground as she walked. I put the binocs on her and decided to try to get closer for a better look. When I baled out of the tree she saw me and "hauled ass"...sorry.. well you know what I mean. All I know is she could run faster on two legs than I could. I swear this is a true story. You can believe it or not but I'll never forget it. BW

Barry believe it or not I have been told a similar story by a hunting buddy involving a doe that had lost both hind legs just below the hind quarters. He told me that the deer was dragging itself along feeding on acorns. At first he said he figured it had been very recently hit by a car. He thought he would try to put her out of misery and that he would be able to walk right up to her. But when he climbed down from his stand the same thing happened. Said she took off "running" much faster than he had imagined and got away!

One December, I rattled in what would have been a beautiful massive 10 point buck. I was hunting on the ground and as he came trotting down the field edge, I noticed he only had the left side. I assumed he had shed the right side, until he finally came to a stop on the other side of a bush I was hiding behind, a mere 5 feet away! Anyway, he stood there for about 30 seconds, no bloody pedicle, or anything on his head. He then turned back up the field edge. When he did, I saw a huge knot on his back, on the left side that was an obvious heal over spot.

When I was talking to my buddy about it later, he knew the deer. He had hit it high in the back the prior year and never found the deer or his arrow. That area was developed to build a new hospital the following year, so I never saw that deer again.

Back in the 1980's my Dad killed a nice buck that had been shot with what looked like a rifle wound in one front leg just a couple inches under the brisket. The wound was healed but the leg was drawn up and stiff. The deer was having no trouble getting around. That buck has the weirdest antlers. But both of his antlers are nearly matched. There doesn't seem to be any favoritism between left and right side. His G2's lay flat backwards and his G3's turn in level with the main beam. I call him "Flat Top" because he could have stood on his head on those antlers.

Amazing animal!

What do you think this guys antlers will look like next year.

http://trophypursuit.com/chris/2012/11/28/unreal-and-rare-video-ouch-thats-gotta-hurt/

Over the years I have killed 3 deer with bad injuries that had healed.
The first was an 8pt that had apparently been shot through the leg just above it's hoof. The hole was huge, you could see light through it, it's foot flopped around as it walked, the shattered bone and wound were healed. Antlers normal.
The second, a spike whose antlers dropped below it's eyes and curled up like elf shoes. It had 3 healed broken legs, the right front hoof was turned almost completely backwards and had exposed bleached bone on the out side of it's hide.
The third, a 3pt whose left antler was swinging loose before the season, hanging along side it's face. A month into the hunting season when I shot him the antler had "stiffened", but still hanging with some velvet still on it. When I caped it for a European mount, the antler went "limp" again (scar tissue had kept it stiff) when I removed it, the skull was shattered, it had not fully healed yet. Very tough animals!!

Flat Top. I dusted him off.
 
 
 
 

Somewhere I have picks of at least 2 of these deer that I will try and post...

Flat top indeed!  

Back in the eighties I killed a buck with a decent four point on one side and a three inch, pencil sized spike on the other.

He had one normal testicle, and one tiny one...I don`t know if the other deer made fun of him or not.  :D  

He seemed to be involved in the rut like any other buck, I watched him rub his eyes and forehead on an existing rubbed tree, and he smelled like a November buck smells.

I was using a compound bow at that time, so I can`t post the pics.

I shot this buck a couple years back.  The second time I saw him he appeared to have a little limp. Looked like the limp was coming from his hind end somewhere.   We gave him the nickname the gimp.  The next afternoon I killed him He was missing one half of his hoof on his front left leg.  
Here is a short video that you can kinda see his limp sorry for the unsteady camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfBuIEM6lY
His rack was not affected

Sorry took me a while to find this pix. Not related to the antler/injury discussion.

This doe showed up at our bird feeder a few years ago with the chunk missing from her back leg. We saw her for about two months. I'm sure the Coyotes finally dragged her down. She could put some weight on it and got around Ok.