Conjoined twin?

Very cool

My guess is that it was some sort of trauma caused buy who knows what. But that after the trauma the buck was bedded on his left side and got some twig stuck to the oozing wound. Later he got hungry and ate the stick off to supplement his fiber intake. My .02 cents.

Neat series of pics. I will throw this out for thought. Looks like it could be part of a rib to me. Stick is highly possible also. It is in a place where he can grab/bite it also and pull it out or off. What I am guessing caused his antler growth was what ever happened caused him to concentrate on eating and not rutting thus he ate more feed than normal. Wet fall and winter gave him plenty of forage to recover fast.

has a pretty neat story behind it thats for sure

I read a couple of stories of a buck that had its reproductive stuff injured that never dropped its antlers and was always in velvet. Here's one http://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/article_9dacc524-d24a-11df-a2f7-001cc4c03286.html
I couldn't find the other but the deer had lots of small points on its rack.

Let him get old he will be a freak!

I love that palmation. I'd give him another year if you can cuz he might be a outright brute!

looks like a broke off antler to me..

Could it be a piece of antler from another buck?

the wound was there several weeks before those pics but that was the first time i ever saw anything sticking out of it, and like i said, it was only sticking out for a few hours then it was gone.

i found his left side shed this spring

X2

I dont think thats an arrow. My best guess would be he was startled in some thick brush or was bedded down near some downed limbs and impaled himself when he got spooked

who knows though but seems unlikely to be another buck's antler because it doesnt seem like a spot that would provide enough resistance to break the antler off. if that much force was being used I would think it would make a lot bigger of an injury with antler puncture/gash to the gut

cool lookin rack!

very cool rack