A tale of a buck.....

Here is a buck that I saw on a regular basis last year and even found one shed from about 2 months ago now. He was what I called a 3 yr old (photos are in Jan) rutted down whitetail for my area. Basket rack, no mass or beam length but decent tine length. He had damaged his right mainbeam last year in the mid summer and almost broke it in that spot. Caused him to put on a small droptine.


This year I was interested to see what he would do. Started TC in early July this year. Starting getting photos of him at the feeder on a some what regular basis. These two photos are from early Aug and then mid Aug. Notice the velvet turning black only on the tips of his right side antler points.


On August 30th his velvet was splitting and starting to come off. Over the next 4 days he stripped all the velvet off. But the ends of his MB's and right G2 and G3 were blunted or shorterened. Looks like he was still growing when he started to strip the velvet.

Yesterday morning I picked up the cards from my TC cams and found this. He had broken off part of his G2 and G3 already.


I have only heard of a buck doing something like this in starting to rub out early, one time. This buck made a good jump in a very dry spring and into mid summer time frame. I put it at about 20-25" based off his shed and WAG on score for this year. Hopefully these broken tines will keep the buck alive for one more year. I suspect he will break off more points on that same antler side.

Good that he's still growing! I know you're far wiser than me, but looking at his coloration, his knees, brisket and his back, I wonder if he isn't older than you think.

He may be giant next year. Great buck!

That's a shame but he'll be a real dandy next year. I would have estimated a little older too but I trust you aging on the hoof better than mine

Those photos of him from last year are from a very cold nasty day last year on December 27. Some young bucks will get calloused knees, some wont'. Just like a few older bucks won't have them. Here is the same buck back on November 27,on a warm day. I am not 100% I have a buck on TC from 2016 that is him, if it is then he was not very old looking then and changed way to much. He was done growing antler wise in yesterday mornings photos.

One thing about deer on protein/food plots is they look skinny or rangy looking in May till July. Then in August they really start putting on the weight when the antler are about done growing. They are feeding their body then. He was young and dumb all of last archery and rifle season. He would not even attempt to challenge hardly any bucks his age or older. Younger bucks he would spar with.
I know this is the same buck because he has a nick or two in his right ear in last years and this years photos of him.

Amazing.

Cool story and pics. Thanks for sharing.

I should have stated that differently - I meant it was good to see him make such a jump, and hopefully he jumps again next year.

Certainly a tale of two pics and why deer aging is so hit-miss.

I thought that was what you mean't but just wanted to clarify my post a bit also. I think he was still not fully in hard antlers when he started to rub the velvet off. He made a really good jump and hope he makes it thru to next year. You are correct about photos, angles, time of year, posture and how we view each of them differently.

Very nice jump. Bet he's outstanding in 2019. Hopefully he doesn't get itchy and scratch out of velvet too soon next season.

I think he has the genetics to be a really nice buck for this area next year.

He has continued to break off more of the right G2 and G3 and part of the end of the right MB in recent TC pics.

Appreciate the pictures and the deer's story with them!

Good looking buck.

That's crazy how much he has broken off. Hope it keeps him safe!

Now that is a smart buck who knows how to keep from being shot

As he has had two years in a row with right side issues, makes me wonder if there isn't something abnormal going on. I have seen bucks straighten up after a few years, it is always fun to tell folks "see he wasn't a cull."
Just a thought, next year will be interesting and I hope he squares up nicely.

Very cool. Always find these threads interesting as I just got back into deer hunting recently and trying to age/score deer from year to year. t-rexie got me talked into hunting KS last year, so I only have history of the deer starting there last year. One deer in particular had a big cut on his left ear, so easy to keep tabs on. Here's a picture of him last season:


Here he is this year in August:



Our neighbor as well as us have him on the pass list. Hope he makes it to next season. Curious to see if he makes another big jump.

He damaged that right side in velvet last year in late June, he was normal look till that point. I was lucky to find that side shed this summer. This year is still a mystery at this point. I have my thoughts but still not 100% sure why he started to rub the velvet off when that side was still not finished growing. If I am lucky enough to find his shed that will tell me a lot more. My guess is that side is going to be "softer" on those areas of the breakage. I have also seen bucks take two years to correct abnormal antler growth or antler damage but usually it was from pedicle damage. Most people want to cull a deer without any history to go back to compare.

Nice buck. Interesting what is going on with that side. Hopefully he can make it through and see what he has in store next year.