Question about a Shed

[Bigb]

While I was trying to fill and antlerless tag on January 19th I found my first shed of the year. It was a great find for that early and actually tipped me off to a spot I'm really going to look into hunting next year. It is the shed to a buck we have a lot of pictures of and I actually almost had a shot at in Mid October on my first hunt of the year. He isn't a large buck but I really liked how unique her was. With all the pictures we have of him and the close encounter I had with him it was neat to find a shed from him since he was so unique from the one antler he has.

Here is my question, if you look at the bottom of the antler, it didn't have the normal smooth appearance you see in most antlers. Its almost like the antler was shed from deeper in the skull with how rough it looked. My question is, do you think this was formed from genetics or was this a possibly a wound to the antler he experienced the year before? I take him to be a 2.5 year old deer so I was thinking he might have damaged last years antler in a fight last year and had it broke off below the base therefor growing a non-typical antler this year. Also, do you think with a shed antler that looks like this that he will be able to grow a normal rack next year. As you can see, he has a normal 4 point antler on one side, but this antler is not even close to similar to this one.

I have an antler we found a few years back the has a touch of skull plate on it (Different land 100's miles away) that we figured the buck probably died. Seeing this I wonder if this buck experience a similar injury but somehow was able to survive. I'm hoping next year he puts on some inches as either a nice typical or a real unique non-typical.









Here is a picture we have of him this fall. As you can see , the left antler is a lot higher than the right. Plus the right appears to be a typical four point as well. If you could see the deer head on you would also be able to tell the left antler goes a lot higher than the right.

[gogebicbuckslayer]

Looks like part of his skull! Ouch

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[magicman54494]

That is strange. That side was a bit different to start with. Maybe his sheds will look like that every year? Maybe the result of a past injury?

[Bucky]

That happens often... if too much skull goes with shed the brain can become infected = death. Doubt that is the case with your example. I have seen much much worse pieces of skull with shed antlers.

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[Crazinamatese]

I have an antler very similar, with a chunk of skull attached to the base, but I didn't find it as a shed. I actually pulled it out of the buck's head. The buck was shot thru the head with a .223 caliber rifle and shattered the top of his head by the neighbor. He managed to live well until I shot him.

[PeteJ]

I have about 150 sheds that I've found. Around 5 look like the one you posted, and all are small sheds!

[UPbowhunter]

Alot of my sheds have that. Both from this have it. Dosent hurt them. May be a deficiency of some sort.

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[G3s]

I have seen a lot of sheds with that rough looking base. It doesnt seem to hurt the deer at all and the antlers seem to grow fine the next season.

[Crazinamatese]

Here is the one I pulled out the buck's head.

[Cash 18]

I've also found a shed with a piece of skull like that. I've seen others as well.

[Bigb]

Thanks guys, I was just curious if this guy was going to be a non-typical again next year. He's a deer that seems to be hanging around a lot this year. I've found a decent amount of sheds in my life, but none that looked like this. I think he'll be 3.5 next year and if he looks the same as he did this year he'll be on our target list. It will be fun to see what he looks like next summer, can't wait to start running cameras again next spring.

[Brad]

I killed a buck a few years ago that had shed one antler already and he had a deep hole from where the antler came out of, that always made me wonder too. Good post!

[Crazinamatese]

That makes me question if the buck I killed was actually shedding, and the antler being pulled out wasn't a result of the bullet wound. This is very interesting to say the least.

[BigHills BuckHunter]

Thanks guys, I was just curious if this guy was going to be a non-typical again next year. He's a deer that seems to be hanging around a lot this year. I've found a decent amount of sheds in my life, but none that looked like this. I think he'll be 3.5 next year and if he looks the same as he did this year he'll be on our target list. It will be fun to see what he looks like next summer, can't wait to start running cameras again next spring.

I have a 4x2 6 pointer on my property and he has a "weird side" Its been that way since he was 2.5 yrs old when I found his shed. Got a pic of him at 3.5 yrs old and Now he is 4.5 yrs old and still has that messed up fork side. It has grown quite a bit each year but still has the same form. For the buck Im talking about its because of gentetics I believe.

I looked into it on the internet a while back wondering what you are wondering not getting many answers...then while shopping at Gander Mountain I found an article from one of the big hunting magazines. They claim in your case if its from an injury it could come back normal next year if it heals well but that would be rare. If its genetics its going to be that way the rest of his life.

About the skull being attached to the antler.....I remember the article claiming that will mean the antler will be deformed next year most likely because the buck had some sort of injury. However you can still expect normal growth.

Overall according to the magazine article the buck will most likely have a weird side again next year and it sounds like it is not a genetic trait.

Trying to remember what magazine it was....I think Outdoor life and it was from a month or two ago.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

I've seen that a lot on my sheds. If you ever cape a buck out around the deer's pedicle you will notice that little piece of skull where it is attached. I think that is the piece that sometimes comes off in a large irregular shape.

Some of those pieces are sharp and you can tell they hurt coming off.