Antlered doe?
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: EmbryOklahoma
01-Oct-18
Curious to your thoughts on this deer. The facial structure looks like an adult doe and not a young buck, to me. Whatcha think?
From: Zbone
01-Oct-18
Castrated young buck my guess...
From: IdyllwildArcher
01-Oct-18
It happens. They have the gene for antlers, it's just modified to be inert. Just like fangs, every once in a while you get one where the gene mutates back "on." This is why I presume that one of my ancestors interbred with a sheep.
From: fubar racin
01-Oct-18
My mom shot an antlered doe a few years back another 1/4 inch and it would have been a buck by Colorado law
From: lamb
01-Oct-18
I shot one in stueben county n.y. she had one spike about 5 inches long in velvet
From: Shaft
01-Oct-18
Could be the makings of a Cactus Buck.
From: Franklin
01-Oct-18
Zbone x2.
From: Zbone
01-Oct-18
Yeah, me thinks gonna be Cactus Buck too... From what I read most Cactus Bucks are castrated bucks, although it could also be a antlered doe... Be nice to have more cam pix... Our organized hunting group once killed a button doe during our gun season in December... Had velvet on it's buttons at the time, but we thought it was a buck fawn but when we flipped it over to gut it we all dropped jaws... We joking teased the guy who shot it all week of killing a queer deer...8^)
From: kscowboy
01-Oct-18
Had this one on camera a few years back on the family farm but never confirmed what “it” was. Only get 1 buck tag, so not wasting it on a management deer. End of season might’ve been a different story.
Kansas changed from “visible polished antler” to “visible antler” a few years back.
From: Zbone
01-Oct-18
Cool photos of cactus antlers, thanks for sharing...
From my understanding, these cactus bucks look like does since they lost their testicles and haven't testosterone, so they don't get thick necks and body... But if you think about a steered bull bovine, they get thick, so I don't know, doesn't make sense...
From: dirtclod Az.
01-Oct-18
Seem like cactus buck.
From: Woods Walker
01-Oct-18
Don't be so fast to assign gender identity! It's a LGBTQ deer!
From: EmbryOklahoma
01-Oct-18
Hah! Ike... where were the ancestors from? Lol
From: EmbryOklahoma
01-Oct-18
FYI, I've told others that I hunt with to watch for this deer. Shoot it if they want. ;)
From: Zbone
02-Oct-18
I'd shoot that deer in a second, I luv unique deer...
From: Habitat
02-Oct-18
I caped one several years back in Kansas that scored around 150 if I remember right
From: cnelk
02-Oct-18
I shot this 'cactus' buck last week here in Colorado. He didnt have much for testicles
From: Bowriter
02-Oct-18
Don't think that is a doe. I believe what you have a young buck that did not quite clear the fence. When that happens, they often develop gender confusing body characteristics. Be interesting to see how that deer develops.
From: Zbone
02-Oct-18
Hey kscowboy - "Only get 1 buck tag, so not wasting it on a management deer."
We don't actually have buck or doe tags here in Ohio, they're called antler and antlerless tags... Antlers under 3" are considered antlerless, so by looks, don't see antlers over 3" there in your trail cam pix, so wouldn't have had to use your antlered buck tag here...
From: Barry Wensel
04-Oct-18
When we lived in Montana my brother Gene, myself and Paul Brunner all shot antlered does in the same year. Just a freak coincidence though as they were all in different areas of the state and hundreds of miles apart. bw
From: Zbone
05-Oct-18
Have any pix of those antlered does Barry?
From: Barry Wensel
05-Oct-18
I did at the time but another of those things lost in our fire in '99. Mine was only a spikehorn but he/she had about one inch hard antlers and she was lactating I remember too. A lot of antlered does seem to be in velvet. I was just filling doe tags at the time and never knew it had any antlers when I shot. I also remember (for some strange reason) I killed her with a big 'ol Pearson Deadhead that was slotted and bleeder blades added. I was just experimenting but it cut a hell of a hole. Ha.
From: BowhuntKS
05-Oct-18
This one was missing his testicles. Biologist thought he'd probably left them on a fence. Shot third week of November.
From: Woods Walker
05-Oct-18
OUCH!!!!
From: Zbone
12-Dec-18
Just found this photo of antlered doe, pulled it from our DNR website...
Am assuming it was killed during our statewide firearms season last week...
From: M.Pauls
12-Dec-18
I had an antlered doe that I continually saw for a few years. Haven’t seen her in a while, but definitely a fairly common occurance. Sorry Embry I don’t have any solid guesses for you, but I’d agree with the face looking doe-like
From: EmbryOklahoma
12-Dec-18
I told everyone I hunt with to shoot it if they see it. So far, nobody has laid eyes on it.
From: Ambush
12-Dec-18
A buddy killed a 4X4 mule deer doe when he was a young bow hunter. He always joked about his biggest buck, for years, was a doe.
From: air leak
12-Dec-18
Here is my first deer that I killed, back in 1977, with my 30-06.
Northern Maine.
An antlered doe, that dressed 120 plus.
