Unusual MN Buck taken opening weekend

[cornfedkiller]

From the newspaper article:

I've written about many unusual deer over the years, some freakier than others, but the 19-point buck shot by Scott Lindell on Saturday in southwestern Minnesota earns a special prize. The buck's antlers certainly are large, with 19 measurable points and a pretty good width at 17 inches. There are also two heavy tines that shoot backward off the back of the main beam that have several tines themselves. This buck is Randy Moss-like: a super freak.

It was heavy, too — 185 pounds field-dressed.

But what makes this buck even more freakish is the antler velvet. It never lost its velvet this fall as most male whitetails do — likely because of a hormonal imbalance — so the buck's huge rack still has a soft, velvety layer. "I've been deer hunting for 14 years, and it's absolutely the weirdest thing I've ever seen," said Lindell, who lives in Hutchinson and is a chemical specialist working in the commercial laundry industry. The buck has created quite a stir around Morton, the town near where Lindell bagged the buck, and Hutchinson, where Lindell has been showing off photos. "I'm not a much of a bragger," he said, "but on this deal, I'm showing it around a bit." Lindell's story is a good one, too, because he isn't the most experienced deer hunter in his marriage. That title belongs to his wife, Lori. "My wife has hunted deer her entire life, and when she saw this buck, she started to cry, she was so excited," Lindell said. "She knew what a special deer it was." The couple were hunting on her family's land near Morton in Renville County, just as they do every year. They were joined by her children and Scott's stepchildren: Thomas, 14, and Brittney, 15, both avid deer hunters. They had a fun bet on opening day. Each would pitch in $1, and the family member who shot the biggest buck would get the $4 kitty. Lindell said he has had few chances over the years to shoot big bucks. Mostly, he helps dispatch the deer shot by his wife and kids. After walking to their own stands, Lindell and his family were hunting in a woodlot surrounded by cornfields. Around 9 a.m., he spotted a deer walking along a hill. It soon disappeared, but when it appeared again, it was only 30 feet away. He saw it had antlers, but the antlers didn't register as particularly large or unusual. The buck wasn't pursuing does or running — typical rutting behavior — which apparently had to do with its lack of sex drive. Lindell dropped the buck with one shot. When he walked up to it, he realized it was something quite large and unusual. "I'd never seen a deer of that size," he said. "It was so big, it looked like a horse. I could not hardly come to grips with the fact it was a deer." Excited, he realized he needed to make special plans and get help so he could have it properly preserved for mounting. But first, he went and got his wife. "I don't know why, but when I took off up the hill to get Lori, I was concerned the deer wouldn't be there when I got back," Lindell said. "There was a lot of adrenaline going." Everyone got down from their stands and gathered around the buck. Lindell's wife gave him a big hug. His stepson handed him a dollar bill and said, "Dad, you definitely got it (the pot)." Not having a lot of experience with taxidermy, Lindell began calling other family members and friends to advise him about taking care of the buck. Soon, a small crowd gathered in the woods, and they hauled the deer away to a taxidermist. Lindell said he plans to have the meat turned into jerky and sausage.

So why didn't the buck lose its velvet?

Marrett Grund, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' farmland deer expert, has examined about 10,000 deer over his career and has seen just two other bucks similarly in velvet. He said the buck likely suffered from hypogonadism, a condition that occurs not just in deer but in humans. As the buck grew older, his production of testosterone declined significantly, reducing its drive to mate and altering some of the physical changes bucks undergo each fall as they begin to rut or mate. Instead of its antlers shedding its velvet, this buck's velvet stayed on and its testicles never enlarged for mating. (Lindell said the buck's testicles were much smaller than the 6-pointer that his stepson shot over the weekend). Grund said the buck's neck probably didn't swell, either, another rutting physical change bucks undergo. All these changes occur because a normal buck's testosterone levels triple during the mating season; Lindell's buck simply didn't produce much testosterone. Had it survived this fall, it would have produced even less testosterone next year and maybe would have looked freakier, Grund said. He added that most velvet bucks with the condition never grow such large antlers. Grund said the two other velvet bucks he has seen were spike and forked-horn bucks. He said the buck likely was 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 years old because few bucks get older than that in southwest Minnesota. Only 4 percent reach age 4 1/2 years, he said. The biologist said nothing about the buck's condition would make it unfit to eat. Although some had seen a large-antlered buck last summer, Lindell said no one around Morton knew this buck existed, even with the numerous trail cameras in the area, including Lindell's on his in-laws' property. "Nobody had seen the deer until now," he said. Lindell said he hopes to display the buck at the Deer Classic this spring. And later, it will hang in his living room.

[dan]

I love the freaks!

[solocam88]

Cool

[Dor]

Weird

[PeteJ]

AWESOME!