OK, I have never admitted to knowing everything....LOL [8D]

First, Brett,if it were from running into brances the injury would be much more traumatic and damaging to the antlers. i.e. messed up tines, bent main beams, etc. The branch theory is an old wives tale.

Windwalker,you may be changing my minda little bit. [8D] I read the article and decided to do a little more research. In 45 minutes of searching the internet I could only find 2 articles about bot flies. More specifically deer nose bot flies. Here are the links....

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-26640--,00.html

http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/mammals/deer/disease.htm

The only place I could find anything relating to bot flies and antler damage was on taxidermy websites and other hear say type sites. Nothing with any reasearch to back it up. Maybe you can help me find a site with some hard evidence.