goosie

Check out this little buck. He is only a year old. His left main beam drops straight down off his head and the base of his right beam is the cirucmference of a hockey puck. He has two tines growing off the base in addition to the main beam.
So is this a genetic thing? Will he continue to grow this drop beam year after year? I really hope he will because he will be really neat to watch over the next several years. He looks like he will be really non-typical.

t roy

can't make it out in the pic, too dark; but from what you described it could be genetics or it could also be that the buck sustained an injury while growing his new antlers.

coyote caller

Being that he's still in velvet, I'd have to say it's caused buy an injury. That's not what I would call a drop tine since the rack is still in the early growing stages.

JimboHunter1

I too, think the abnormality was caused by an injury. I read something before that described a buck with a rack similar to that and the antlers actually grew into his head and killed him. What an agonizing death that must have been.
We saw a small buck like that in velvet about 15 years ago. Nobody ever saw him in hunting season though. He either must have survived the season and grown a normal rack the following year or if he was killed, we sure didn't hear about it.

johnch

I had a buck that had the right side of its rack grow strange something like the picture. It started when it was a 3 year old the other years where ok .Only thing I could figure that caused it is that it limped on its left side rear leg from a car striking it.

goosie

Coyote Caller...I don't really understand what you are saying. whether it is in velvet or not how does that indicate genetic trait or injury? All antlers begin in velvet whether they are irregular because of injury or following the gene line, still are in velvet here this time of year. That bucks rack still has over a month to grow some more before it begins to harden up. So could you explain what you mean a little better. Also, it is certainly not a droptine, it is a drop beam...that growth you see coming down beside his eye is the main beam.

I have heard of strange antlers caused by injuries and such before but he even has crazy irregularities on his other side as well, though they are not clear in the picture. I mentioned the huge base of the antler on his left side...that is extremely strange to have 8 inch bases on a 1 year old buck.
Anyway, I am just curious what experiences all of you have on seeing bucks like this because it is my first. I am hoping to hear from someone who watches their deer herd year after year who may have had a buck like this in their herd.

Deerslayer_37

I've seen bucks like this shot and ones in magazines, most likely its an injury to the pedicles. The pedicles are what the antlers develop from. doubtful its genetics. could have been an injury early in the growing process. but i think a pedicle injury is most likely.

slayer

lhook7

More than likely this buck will have an injury to one of its left legs. For some reason, when a buck has an injury to one of its legs the opposite side antler will droop or be deformed in some other manner.

skeeter 7MM

Goosie, I think coyote was referring to "While being in Velvet bucks antlers are more subject to injuries to the antler itself in growing stage or antler growth is affected as a result of an injury sustained while growing".

Picture is hard to guess what he has and why it maybe this way. Usually a severe dropped beam is a result of an injury sustained to that animal. However you described he had other abnormalities, so it is possible that genetics or both have played a role in this growth. The fact you see large bases may be explained to the velvet stage and small main beams. Deer grow there main beams first then push the tines up later on in the growth stage. On smaller beamed deer it can appear they have large bases or higher mass than reality. Again we can't see what you saw so just a guess really. Follow him in his growth and if you do get a better pic, we can maybe get more info. In any regard I do not know of 100% fool proof method to determine why growth may appear...it is nothing more than a guess. Unless you can determine an injury has been the result. A body injury to one side can result in the opposite side being affected...that I do know for sure.

coyote caller

Skeeter 7mm. Hit the nail on the head as to what I was saying. During early development, the deers antlers are very delicate. And during this stage of growth is when most antlers are damaged or broke. This can happen from running away from a predator, and hitting their antlers on a tree or other hard object. Or possibly from being ding by a truck, or car. And when the deer hit the ground damaged it's antlers. There's a lot of different factor in every deer as to how they grow their antlers. Genetic's play a important role in antler growth and size. Some estimate that 50% of a bucks nutritional intake goes into antler development during the first 4 months of growth. Growing antlers are 80% protein and 20% ash. Harden antlers are roughly 63% ash, 22% calcium, 11% phosphorus and 4% organic matter. So it does matter, what the deer feeds on as to how the antlers grow. And since the picture of the deer you're showing, the antlers are still in their early stages of growth.