when the hemmies are kickin' up, it feels like I am

I think you saw Axis deer.

I also have seen fawns with up to 2 inch or so nubbins, but a forked rack? No way. Any deer within its first season to have such would be a freak. All deer start out in their first year looking about the same, Hanson buck or no.

It is possible for a yearling to have antlers. While they arent the norm, I wouldn't say yearlings with spikes are uncommon. I do know that if a yearling buck's antlers protrude through the skin and he has visible bone, then is capable of breeding. Now a 4 or 6 pt. yearling would be rare, but if he is in fact a yearling, then he has some INCREDIBLE genes.

i would have to see it in person to believe it

A good friend of mine has a high fence operation, and he has had fawns with up to 4-points. Just little forky type antlers, but still larger than any wild deer I've heard of. So, yes it is possible, but not likely in the wild, based on the foods they get at the high fence.

I think the question was just answered. It should be extremely rare for this to happen in the wild though. Most bucks begin antler growth well before fawns are born. Studies have shown that there is a small increase in blood testosterone levels as antler growth begins. That must mean that the fawn is born very early and quckly becomes sexually mature. (doe fawns can be sexually mature andbreedduring their first winter) Also, bucks will usually take minerals from their bones and devote them to hardening antlers. In older animals, it is believed that these minerals are deposited the previous year. Therefore, for a fawn to use energy and minerals for antler growth rather than body growth, it must be in extremely good condition and have plenty of very high quality forage. Maybe they are carnivorous deer that eat bone fragments... kidding. Anyway, I have seen yearlings (those between 1 and 2 yrs old) with 10+ pts.

LMAO!!Thequestion wasabout fawns not yearlings.Or are you another one that thinks they're thesame thing,did you miss the other thread?

I know for a fact that a first year fawn can have antlers. I shot one with 3" spikes that was just out of spots in NJ and was no way a 1.5 year old in that area. Another friend of mine shot a tiny fork horn with 3-3.5" spikes and a small 1" fork on each anlter. This deer was seen many times before it was shot with other fawns that were brothers and sisters and the other button buck simply had buttons and was actually bigger in the body. So, yes they can have them.

Let's not get into a QDM argument about why these deer were shot. It was a long time ago and ignorance of QDM was at hand.

These answers are interesting to say the least.