First Buck, And it's an ODD One!

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Eagle103

Eagle103

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Yesterday was my 10 yr. old's first time deer hunting. MN now allows 10 and 11 yr. olds to hunt if accompanied by an adult so my son was finally able to use the 30-30 his grandfather (R.I.P. Dad) gave him. He would have been thrilled to shoot a doe and it was no small feat to get him to pass up on a group that passed about 50 yards in front of our stand over a bean field. Finally, just before dark, we had a buck come out about 200 yards away. We could immediately see he was missing one side of his antlers. He eventually worked his way to about 175 yards out. A long shot for most hunters, especially a 10 year old novice, but he's been practicing all fall with some low powered reloads we made together and I was reasonably confident he could pull it off. I was ready with a quick follow up shot just in case though! After much persuasion I finally gave him the green light. The deer jumped and I quickly followed up. He disappeared into the woods so we waited and went to get our flashlights. He didn't go far. Maybe 50 yards in. As far as I'm concerned it was HIS shot that did the job. End of story. To our surprise, what we assumed was a broken antler was, well, see for yourself!

Before the hunt.
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Proud hunter, complete with cockleburrs!
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With his equally proud dad.
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Close up.
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The mass of his normal side is heavier than any I've ever seen around here, I assume because he was directing his resources primarily to only one side.
 
Congrats to you and your son. I can not waite till the day my girls can go hunting with me.
 
Weird! I've never seen a deer with antlers only on one side! Nice job though, to your son!
 
My uncle shot an elk like that. The deformed side only had the brow tine then the main beam dropped off and drooped down into what resembled a very large bulb of garlic or a fig. Pretty odd for sure. It wasn't a very big animal but due to how unique the rack was he went ahead and took it and has since had it mounted.

Congrats on the first buck. Hopefully I'll have photos of my own first deer to add here some day soon.
 
Thanks for all the kind words! Yeah, that's my son but he could use a haircut! His uncle (my BIL) who does some taxidermy looked at it tonight. He said the hanging "garlic bulb" could present some challenges but the plan is to do a full head mount so we're pretty thrilled about that!
 
Countertop, those are cocklburrs stuck to his coat. Just like velcro. We had a tornado go through our woods this summer where the buck went in and it seems cockleburrs were the first thing to spring back up!
 
Now that buck has some character to it. Congrats to your son and to dad for spending time in the woods with him. I am sure your like most other fathers right now. Grin stretches from ear to ear and every deer you have ever taken pales in comparison.
 
Where is this miraculous place you live where you don't recognize cockleburs and is there any room?
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Suburbs of Washington, D.C.

But trust me, what we have around here - politicians - are far worse than any cocklebur.
 
Great buck. Out of curiosity, were there any noticeable previous injuries to the bucks body?
 
Seen several deer with one antler. Some cull, some lose it when the yshed and the other doesn't come back. Nice buck though!
 
I have heard from wildlife bioligists that a deformed antler could be an indicator that the buck had some sort of injury on the opposite side of it's body. Deformed right side atler could be the result of a rear left leg injury during it's growth period, early spring through July.
 
...a deformed antler could be an indicator that the buck had some sort of injury on the opposite side of it's body. Deformed right side atler could be the result of a rear left leg injury...
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I've always wondered, but this sounds crazy. I figured that the injury was to the actual velvet button, early in spring development, but I don't know.

If anyone ever gets around Loveland, Colorado, there is a bull elk hanging on the wall in the Sportsman's Warehouse there. IIRC, he has only one antler, and it is an ugly sight!! The next time I'm over in those parts, I'll take a picture of him and post it. I've always wondered if that guy got into some bad chemicals that year.
 
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