The buck was so odd that Nickel thought the buck’s rack was wrapped up in twine or something else.
“I thought there was stuff wrapped up in his rack. I could see that
he was fairly wide and had some mass, it just didn’t make sense. I
almost didn’t shoot him as I’d never seen anything like this before. I
couldn’t take it anymore and decided to shoot this thing,” reported
Nickel...
A cactus buck is a deer that has... cryptorchidism,
which results in velvet remaining on antlers and continuing to grow
throughout the year. The condition generally occurs to bucks that have
irregular testicles or have incurred testicular damage, which impacts
testosterone levels. Testosterone regulates antler growth and
development.
Via
North American Whitetail. There's another example at
The Local:
Animals with this condition are not expected to live for a long time.
Once the antlers grow over his eyes, the animal will be unable to fend
for itself.
"I almost didn’t shoot him as I’d never seen anything like this before. I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to shoot this thing"
ReplyDeleteIn other words: "I didn't know what it was so I killed it".
That pretty well says it all right there, doesn't it? What a putz.
I thought it was a fairly ignorant statement as well. The irony is that he unknowingly probably did the deer a favor rather than allowing it to live out its final days blind, starving, and possibly wounded.
DeleteKill one of the cactus rack bucks in Missouri on Jan 10th 2015. I thought it was a little basket rack buck till I went to field dress it.
ReplyDelete