Originally Posted by
buckman11
they were both at about 6:45 in the morning. and almost 200 yards away.
Not a viable excuse in my opinion. If you are not 100% sure what your target is, don't shoot. In some areas of the country you can only take deer of specific sex on a permit. If you thought you were shooting does but ended up with bucks that could be very costly if the tags in hand don't legally pertain to the animals.
As to your question on the deer, some areas have very poor minerals which lead to thin and weak antlers. Buck fight each other and also can be pretty aggressive when making rubs. If the minerals content of the soil is bad they may just be breaking them that way. I spent 4 years in Pensacola and that area has poor minerals for antler growth. I shot several bucks that had busted up antlers there.
But, I knew when I squeezed the trigger they were bucks.