I've got one buck growing weak on one side.  First time I've had him on camera so I have no idea what he looked like last year.

Couple of rookie questions.

1) Is there anything that might have caused this for this year only that could return to a symmetrical rack next year(short of damaging it in the early stages of growth, it looks healthy, no odd masses or funky twists/turns)?

2) Is it possible for a deer of this nature to pass on this trait genetically?  I was always under the impression that they do not(a small rack can be genetic but not symmetrical isn't) but never really researched it.

Up until recently we would just find deer activity and hunt the spot with fingers crossed.  Only the second year I've dabbled with the cameras, trying to get a feel for what's going on in our area.

edit:  Or maybe he did damage it, just got a look at a picture I must have overlooked

I used to work processing deer with my uncle, and have killed a fair number over the years.  What I've noticed most of the time, when one antler is normal, and the other is not, there is/was an injury on the "good" side.  Healed wound..fighting, hit by car, arrow, gunshot, etc.  Injury on right shoulder = bad/small/deformed left antler in other words.

Yeah I've encountered that a couple of times before.  Just wondering what some other possibilities are.  From what I have seen(which is limited) that appears to be the most common cause.

Assuming he didn't break that antler off, it'll probably retain similar characteristics as the deer ages.

He's fine, he might have just damaged it in velvet and the reason you don't have pics of him last year is he was most likely just a spike or button buck. He could have a body injury on the side as was mentioned before, but I think he's just a junior dinker and needs a few more years before he is even considered for a hit list. If he was injured, that does not mean it will carry on past this set of antlers. If you PM me an email address I'll send you some proof in the pudding of one year being mangled on one side to be a full racked shooter the next. I also have pics of a deer I shoulder shot with a bow as a 4 year old, and killed the next year with a lot more "character."  if you let them grow to maturity it becomes a lot easier to identify which ones are injured as you SHOULD have 3 years of pictures before harvesting them......if you are trying to grow a quality managed herd of shooters that is. If you like slapping on orange and shooting anything that has bone then disregard and shoot straight.

Young deer, he looks to be a yearling.  Yearlings often have odd antlers and there's no guarantee he will have that same defect next year.


I don't personally shoot 1.5 year olds, even if they're odd racked.  Most of them work it out in their next set.  Now, if they're still wacky at 2.5 and especially 3.5, then I'll take them out as once they reach that age, they can get aggressive enough to start breeding doe.

At 1.5, unless the area has an absolute TON of doe and lack of bucks, they're not going to get much chance to breed a doe.  Older bucks will run them off, and mature doe most likely won't allow them to breed.


I would suggest not shooting him just to get him out of the gene pool.  If he displays the same defect next year, go for it.  Odds are he won't though.

Are you sure about that 1.5?  I know that picture doesn't show it well but here is another and I would have put him at 2.5 but aging deer isn't my forte'.

Attached File


This is the guy I'm more excited to see grow up.  I would put him at 1.5 years and showing more promise than anything else I'm seeing(unless the other guy is in fact a 1.5 but I would put him at 2.5).

Attached File





As far as it being genetic or not, I have no idea.  If he is 2.5 and growing weak on one side that doesn't really tell me much as we don't have any pictures of him last year.  I don't plan on shooting him this year but we are out of meat so knock on wood we get a doe or two on public land in Green Lake County so I'm not stuck deciding between a buck I don't want to shoot or going without meat for a year.

Yeah...skinny neck and short nose...1.5 IMO

They look like yearlings to me.

If older deer have antler deformities there are a lot of different causes.  Injuries, antler infections when in velvet, infections around the base of the antler when in hard antler.  Most of the time it will correct itself the next year unless the pedicile is damaged.

This is exactly what happened to this deer early last year. This buck got hit by a car and "walked" away. Notice the left quarter and how his rack is deformed on the right side. We (neighbor and me) have been watching this one and let him go hoping we will see him this year, in his full glory.

If that's a 1.5 year old then I have six 1.5 year old bucks on camera this season regularly passing through my stand area(as in daily/every other day)and nothing older.  Fuck's sake.

edit:  I just wonder what is happening to all the older bucks... unless they are all elsewhere at the moment.  Just seems like a very odd ratio of yearlings to older bucks for one specific area.  We get almost no hunting pressure by us.

1.5.  No doubt.

For some reason around the ranch we have locations that are nothing but yearlings year after year.