Buck with no rack


spyderpancake

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At the beginning of last December, I was hunting a cut corn field, watchin a few does. It started to get late, and i saw a big-bodied deer come trotting out about 200 yards down the woodline. With my naked eye i could tell it was a nice buck by the way it sauntered out. I threw up the rifle and looked at him on 14x and didn't see anything on his head! At this point he trotted up to the does and started scent-checking them. He came within 100 yards of the stand and I could never see any sort of rack, so i let him go. Then last week I got a picture of a deer on my trailcamera. There was a decent 8 point standing to the side and a huge deer, a good bit bigger than the other buck, and had the thick neck, sway back, and broad nose of a mature buck. But all that was on his head was 3/4" nubs. The picture wasn't clear enough to tell if they were broken off or what. It is one of the strangest things I've seen in a while. Any clue as to what's up confused.gif

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Re: Buck with no rack

Post the pic in here. Possible he is breeding alot of does early and is also losing his antlers early. Have heard of deer shedding in December, but around here it is usually not until later on. Read somewhere that a drop in testosterone levels will begin the process of the antlers being cast.

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Re: Buck with no rack

No, he hasn't shed them yet, you can see about 3/4 of an inch of antler in the pic. I don't have a scanner, or i would post it. Also, if it is the same deer that i saw earlier in the year(and i think it is), then he would have lost his antlers in the middle of the rut shocked.gif

My game camera was messed up, only 3 pictures out of 24 turned out, so I exchanged it for another one. I'm going to the club to put it out today, maybe I will get another clearer pic of him.

I wish that I had shot him, if i see him next year i will definitely shoot him.

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Re: Buck with no rack

I know Andy got a big deer one time years back. He thought it was a big doe and upon recovering it, found that it had little antler stubs or just the pedicles left. I've heard that when deer get to be really old, their antler size starts decreasing. I read about it once in a hunting magazine.

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Re: Buck with no rack

He may have shed them, i've seen bucks here in Ohio that have shed there rack as early as late NOV. Or he may have jumped the fence, and lost his "manhood". If thats the case, they can't grow another rack without Testosterone, just ask Jose' Cansenco!!! lol

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