Out filling feeders today and dog brought back a small 6 point antler in velvet. Had some significant pedicure/skull at the base. Nothing spectacular, but you never know what could have been. Shame he will never be the same, if have antler at all on that side again.

Sorry, don’t have pics.

Mother Nature kills more than we do. They have a tough life. Another reason mature bucks are rare.

The rut also kills what are normally healthy trophy class deer, from their fighting ritual.
I've seen this first hand.
So when people say, I'll give them another year, they aren't having the final say.

I've found a couple of bruisers dead after the rut. Saw them on camera before season, then found their skulls later in the season. Sucks.

I would be more of the mind the deer is dead not just cursed with a goofy rack.

I don't know if the deer was dead or not since I didn't go looking, but there was some dried blood inside the velvet that made me think this was recent. It had the slight stink of dead tissue on it, very slight, but I attributed that to the blood/velvet process and not actual death.

Buck mortality is much higher than most give it credit for.

We usually find 1-2 a year on our little 320 acre place that were not shot/shot at. The troubling part is they are usually deer we have seen on cameras good middle aged and would be great looking bucks for years to come.

Its called nature. Happens all the time. Deer die and get injured every day and there is nothing you can do about it. Part of the cycle of life.

Interestingly, I have seen this buck on camera several times now. Missing the one antler and the other is a perfect match to the one my dog found. I just wonder how he broke it off?

It will be interesting to see him grow, he is young and if he survives will be easy to ID.

Feeder legs can do it along with fences tree limbs etc... Watched a little 6 snap his on a feeder leg last year. He was under the feeder with some doe and a mature buck came in bristled up and posturing at him. The young buck had his head down with a doe between him and the bigger deer so he never noticed until the posturing buck was around 5yrds from him and getting ready to gore him in the side. The young buck jumped almost straight up then turned and rammed into the feeder leg that was anchored with T posts. He hit it hard enough that it knocked him down and he struggled to get up, spun around on his side a few times then shook it off and got out of there. Later that evening I walked the feeder to see if there was any blood or hair. Found his antler with a little piece of pedicle and hair on it. He made it through the season so maybe he’ll be non typ this year, we will see.