deformed racks

Outdoor Enthusiast said:

How have you been able to pinpoint him as the culprit? Just curious.

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Based on observing 10s of thousands of deer over the years, combined with the behavior of this buck and they way other bucks reacted to him on trail cam photos, plus the early scarring on his back (FIGHTING in mid Oct, not just sparring), then the disappearance of most older bucks on this camera location.

When I killed him, he was even more beat up than photos just a few days before. Plus he had already broken off part of his R main beam.

In fact, the only reason I was able to kill him was he came marching stiff legged and bowed up from 250 yards away to beat up the poor little 2.5yo that was feeding under my stand. After he made the first charge at the younger buck and stopped, I let him have it at 50 yards.

megalomaniac said:

Based on observing 10s of thousands of deer over the years, combined with the behavior of this buck and they way other bucks reacted to him on trail cam photos, plus the early scarring on his back (FIGHTING in mid Oct, not just sparring), then the disappearance of most older bucks on this camera location.

When I killed him, he was even more beat up than photos just a few days before. Plus he had already broken off part of his R main beam.

In fact, the only reason I was able to kill him was he came marching stiff legged and bowed up from 250 yards away to beat up the poor little 2.5yo that was feeding under my stand. After he made the first charge at the younger buck and stopped, I let him have it at 50 yards.

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That's very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

megalomaniac said:

You had a bully buck last year and got a bunch of pedicle injuries. Did you notice more bucks with broken racks last year than normal?

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I believe this is correct and was worried about that going into this year. Last year, for whatever reason, was extremely intense - I saw more bucks with 1/2 racks and broken off tines/beams than I can ever recall. The majority of the very few bucks we have on camera so far this year have a nice side and a "dink" side. More than likely pedicle damage.

LenS said:

So I saw this one chasing does yesterday. What would cause his rack to look like this?

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Three primary causes exist for deformed antlers: 1) injury to the growing antler in velvet, 2) body injuries, 3) pedicle damage from an antler being knocked off before it is ready to fall off. I also suspect skull damage due to fighting can play a role, although that has not been documented in the scientific literature as well as the other three causes.

Severe deformation of both antlers like on your buck is almost certainly due to pedicle damage. I have one like that. He first showed up last year as a 3 1/2 year-old. Crazy, stubby spikes on both sides (first picture below). This year, we call him "Satan" for his huge spikes (second picture).

BSK said:

Here's two with malformed right sides. The buck in the 2nd video was around last year and was one of our first bucks with a truly malformed antler.

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I've got a buck in Ohio that could be twins with the buck in your first video.

I heard about the rear leg, opposite antler deformation from my neighbor the other day. He shot the deer depicted in the How Old is Goofy thread. That deer had a rear leg injury so that might have been the reason for Goofy's deformation.

Edit: Source of above quote.

This really isn't an antler deformity, but he will get your attention when you see him!! His skull plate appears to be broken but it isn't floppy so i am thinking it may be healing back this way. I have watched him a few times and you can see where the skull plate that the antler is connected to has moved significantly.

11 point. Might be a 6" spread.

That's a crazy one Jcalder!

megalomaniac said:

You had a bully buck last year and got a bunch of pedicle injuries. Did you notice more bucks with broken racks last year than normal?

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This could be our "bully" buck. He's already got a busted up rack (several broken off points) and he just walks around with a really bad attitude.

I had this running around most of the year

Towboatincountryboy said:

I had this running around most of the year

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That's a crazy one.

I have noticed at one farm; we have a bottom that is super thick. Those bucks that call that area their core area always show up more with deformed racks than any other area. After about 20+ years of watching this area I'm pretty convinced those deer are knocking their antlers off running through that thick crap in late season or are damaging them in velvet running through there and are causing the deformation. This is my theory on most of our deformed racks. I do not believe it to be genetic, if it was we would be seeing some 1.5 year olds with deformed racks, which we have none. It's always a buck 2.5 or older.

I also believe the deer in our area are rutting later almost each year which is pushing back the cycle of the does, this would cause them to also run hard through the woods and possibly fight later than they should.

Dumbluck said:

I have noticed at one farm; we have a bottom that is super thick. Those bucks that call that area their core area always show up more with deformed racks than any other area. After about 20+ years of watching this area I'm pretty convinced those deer are knocking their antlers off running through that thick crap in late season or are damaging them in velvet running through there and are causing the deformation. This is my theory on most of our deformed racks. I do not believe it to be genetic, if it was we would be seeing some 1.5 year olds with deformed racks, which we have none. It's always a buck 2.5 or older.

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That's an interesting theory. I've considered hoof rot and bully bucks, but not vegetation thickness. I'll have to pay attention to that going forward to see if I notice the same pattern you describe.

Dumbluck said:

I also believe the deer in our area are rutting later almost each year which is pushing back the cycle of the does, this would cause them to also run hard through the woods and possibly fight later than they should.

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I see a lot of that late rutting down here in Coffee Co., just 45min south of Nashville. I don't think it's the bucks rutting late that drive estrus cycle. I think it's more that later born doe fawns are maturing and cycling when they've reached appropriate size/age to be bred. That late cycle is what I believe spurs the late rut activity.

The reason for the late born fawns and see-saw rut all the way into spring is a bit contested. Some believe it's due to having numerous distinctly different subspecies that were brought in from other states, and that they have at least partly remained self segregated even if only genetically/biologically, thus creating a situation with numerous distinct ruts that happen in pockets. The screenshot below vaguely explains it, and I've heard the same tale from biologists on AEDC who say TN did the same thing.

The other camp believes enough time has passed that natural selection has taken place & allowed the native subspecies to absorb all others and now all that remains is the original deer that existed before restocking. Or at least that's how I interpreted it. It's been discussed ad nauseam on here and I'm still unsure who's right & who's wrong. I don't know enough to argue or even judge which argument is correct, but both theories make sense to me so I'd have to lean toward somewhere in the middle with both being at least partially correct.

Dumbluck said:

I also believe the deer in our area are rutting later almost each year which is pushing back the cycle of the does, this would cause them to also run hard through the woods and possibly fight later than they should.

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This theory actually holds some water, or at least the idea that late breeding times increases pedicle damage. The highest incidence I've seen of the "spike" (or malformed antler) on one side problem is in areas of the Deep South where the rut is the latest. Many years ago I would have arguments with hunters in southern AL and MS about "culling out the 'spike-on-one-side genetics'." And a very high percentage of the hunters arguing to cull were in areas with a very, very late rut.

As a side note, my argument concerning the problem being genetic revolved around the fact that it couldn't be genetic as deer do not have separate genetic codes for right and left antlers. They just have one set of genetic code for antlers, and the process of bilateral symmetry grows near mirror image antlers. This is the case with all mammals and growth. We humans do not have two sets of genetics, one for our left arm and left leg and another set for our right arm and right leg. We just have code that grows arms and legs, and bilateral symmetry produces a pair of mirror image appendages.

BSK said:

As a side note, my argument concerning the problem being genetic revolved around the fact that it couldn't be genetic as deer do not have separate genetic codes for right and left antlers. They just have one set of genetic code for antlers, and the process of bilateral symmetry grows near mirror image antlers. This is the case with all mammals and growth. We humans do not have two sets of genetics, one for our left arm and left leg and another set for our right arm and right leg. We just have code that grows arms and legs, and bilateral symmetry produces a pair of mirror image appendages.

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This is very useful and interesting information. I have a neighbor that argues with me about this topic and I have pointed out none of the 1.5 year olds show this "genetic" of antler deformation on one side and he stumbles around. This information will be helpful but then again arguing with an idiot is useless but I'll still use it!

Hillbilly Hunter said:

This really isn't an antler deformity, but he will get your attention when you see him!! His skull plate appears to be broken but it isn't floppy so i am thinking it may be healing back this way. I have watched him a few times and you can see where the skull plate that the antler is connected to has moved significantly. View attachment 157066

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I saw a deer similar to this one earlier this season, except he only had the weird antler on the right side.

Sorry for the poor image but he caught me standing up and I didn't have my phone in my pocket. On my phone when I hold down the image to see the live view you can see the antler very well as he walks away.

This deers antler was growing down and forward into his right eye making him look like he was winking at you. I figured I would call him "Winky"

BSK said:

Here's two with malformed right sides. The buck in the 2nd video was around last year and was one of our first bucks with a truly malformed antler.

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I have pictures several of deer like this on two farms. Hardeman & Madison Co. Deer range from 5 1/2 to 2 1/2.

I could write a novel from this year and last year. Most all older bucks have deformed antlers and most young deer are small and scraggly