western NY bowhunter Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 I first discovered the deer which came to be known as "The Freak" out in a small alfalfa field one night a week prior to the bow season opener. Initially, I thought it was odd that a buck would still have velvet that late into the fall. After gun season closed in mid-December I spotted this deer out in my aunt's field once again...still in full velvet. This really got me wondering what the heck was going on here? Fast forward to the summer of '08. I saw/videoed this deer several times throughout the summer and fall. With every Freak sighting I was becoming more and more convinced that "it" was in fact an antlered doe. No one in my family wanted to believe me. Gun season came and went and I wondered if this oddball had been killed by the orange army. Then, right before x-mas one night I spotted her out in the same alfalfa yet again. She had made it through another choatic NY gun season. Her antlers were fully velvet clad with tines that appeared to still be growing and were curling over at the tips. In '09 I only manged to lay an eye on The Freak one time back in July and then she went MIA. Until today... Unbelievably, I was taking laundry off of the line right before dark when I happened to glance down into the creek below me and noticed a dead deer hung up on a big rock. Apparently, it had been laying frozen in the creek upstream and came floating down with the rain we got last night / this morning. I had been out here a couple hours before and it wasn't there. There appeared to be antlers on its head so I went down to check it out. I noticed velvet on the rack and quickly pulled its head out of the water. It was the Freak!!! She was laying dead 30 yds from my bedroom window! Upon pulling her out of the creek I saw that her left hind leg and been nearly shot off and was only hanging on by skin/tissue. The bullet grazed the hock on the right leg too. I'd guess she's been dead for a couple of weeks now. It wasn't a good way for this deer to go, but at least I got some closure to the mystery of its sex...a once in a lifetime discovery for sure. Now, I need to figure out what to do with it. I'm thinking of cleaning the skull up but am not sure how to preserve the remaiining velvet. Confirmation photo showing that it is a doe... 12 scorable points with quadruple mainbeams!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond Archer 01 Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Wow, what a cool deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledrop Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 cool deer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Very interesting find. Glad you were able to finally put an end to the mystery deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 She sure is a freak. A sad way to go for sure, but it's good that you found her and can at least preserve the antlers to a true freak of nature. Pretty awesome find.:cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Very cool find and a sad ending. If you had posted the freak story here I would have surmised that it was a doe. I got to see an antlered doe that someone shot back in the early 80's. It also had velvet on its antlers. I was told that because they lack testosterone, they do not have the urge to rub it off. Thanks for sharing the picks with us. I doubt you can save the velvet but cut the rack off and let it dry on the bone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 That is really odd and a rare find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonBowling21 Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 thats cool, my nieghbor killed a 7 point doe and was on the news about 4 years ago! they say they are very rare! so congrats on the find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdavis Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Not sure if you can save the velvet but it would make a nice euro mount; or even get a cape from another doe and do a shoulder mount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TennesseeTurkey Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Thats a cool deer but it sure is nasty looking :eat: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIwhitetailhunter Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Neat story. Even neater you have pics to go with it. Even cooler you can rub it in the faces of those who didn't believe you in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camoman1 Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 You dont see that very often thats for sure. Cool story, but a sad way for her to go indeed. Thanks for sharing with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc2506 Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 thats a cool story for sure and a great find, to bad it ended like that though, not trying to hijack your thread but when i used to live in NW OK we had a local big buck contest that was scored by field dressed weight not by antler size and a friend of mines dad won the contest 1 year with a spike doe that field dressed 260lbs, that is a unheard of weight in OK for any deer, reguardless of sex, she was also still in velvet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 Great story and pics too. It sure is a rare find let alone it being delivered to your yard in the creek bottom. It is probably better she don't mate. Curious on her age. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western NY bowhunter Posted January 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 (edited) I picked the skull up from the taxidermist yesterday. He was supposed to save the jaws for me but he forgot. I looked at her jaws before I took the head over and the teeth didn't appear to be as worn as I was expected them to be. I do know she was at least 2.5 when I first started noticing her in '07...meaning that she was a minimum of 4.5 in '09 (likely older). Edited January 10, 2010 by western NY bowhunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDog Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 cool find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC8point Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 Wow that crazy how you finally got that deer. There was a doe like that at a big deer show here in NC called the Dixie Deer classic a few years back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strutstopper Posted January 19, 2010 Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Thats crazy man,but then again very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckandbull Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 Very rare find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spykbuc Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 wow that is a freeky deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western NY bowhunter Posted January 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Her skull turned out pretty good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 No offence man, but that's the ugliest euro I've ever seen. But that's what I like about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairiepredator Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 The is cool and strange at the same time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2008 Posted January 27, 2010 Report Share Posted January 27, 2010 I bet that was pretty amazing to see! Great looking euro mount too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineyBrake Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 wow, That is a crazy story! Sad way to end for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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