Deer come in all shapes and sizes. Mutations are not uncommon. All deer can have unique and unusual characteristics. This year’s deer season produced a new twist on a Mule Deer Buck.
A Montana hunter, Jeff Hasbrouck, tagged his legal mule deer last Sunday. He was hunting on private land when he and his son, Zayden, spied on a small group of mulies. In the group were a few bucks. As they used their optics to check out which buck, they would target, they noticed that one of the larger bucks had a crazy looking rack.
The bucks’ antlers were spiraled or corkscrewed! The land that they hunted had standing corn, good cover, and plenty of other natural grasses for deer to thrive in.
Jeff took the shot, and the crazy buck was down. They knew that the buck was different but did not expect what they saw. Corkscrew antlers can be caused by lungworms. These worms do not normally kill a deer but bore through the deer and fall out. For some reason, antlers can become mishappened when the lungworms are present. Spiral antlers have also been seen curving back into the deer’s skull and eventually into the deer’s skull, killing them.
When the buck was inspected by officials, no CWD or other disease was observed. The buck was 5 ½ years old. Jeff will be making a European mount of the head. The meat was donated to the MT Veterans Meat Locker group.
The antlers could also make for a great way to open wine bottles!
Montana Grant
