Saw a buck still in velvet today!

Foreman4x4

Very Active Member
Messages
2,126
Was out near Erickson Pass (Utah) today and saw a buck still in velvet! He was a real tall two point, and had a bunch of trash around his base on the right side. He was standing in the middle of the road at probably 25 yards and I tried to see if he still had his "junk", but he wouldn't turn just right. Kinda cool to see...
 
Could have been a doe also. I've seen pictures of does with antlers and they are also still in velvet. In other words, deer with velvet antlers with female anatomy.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"
 
I agree with Chef. Might be an old, goofed-up doe.
watermark.php

yotewalk.gif


Eric
 
As stated above, cactus bucks don't ever shed their antlers. As a vet, I have had clients with castrated buck deer pets. They developed wierd velvet antlers. As the years passed, the antlers continue to grow and are subject to injury. With one client, I would go out and give this deer shots of testosterone every year or so, to get him to harden and shed the antlers. He would not ever shed them completely, but would harden and shed back to a point that was more comfortable.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
>How could it "shed back" or
>shed a portion of horn?
>

My thought exactly!

Michael~All Gods creatures welcome... right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy.
 
saw a cactus bull elk at oak creek sat.
very short spikes still in velvet with a little trash around the bases.
 
My Dad shot a buck last october that was still in velvet it was a male just i guess his nuts just never dropped.
 
Not sure if this guy was pulling my leg but I didn't bring up cactus bucks in the conversation.

An Old Codger who roams around the Owyhee's in SW Idaho told me the other day about how a bunch of cactus bucks started popping up down there way back when. I'm guessing maybe pre 1960's. IDF&G began snooping around and found out that cowhands had a standing order to rope fawns and castrate them, just as they would calves during the spring. I assume it was to put a halt to procreation in order to save some feed.

Now before this post gets out of hand, I'm not insinuating that every time you see a cactus buck assume it's a rancher's fault. It happened a long time ago and I just thought the story was interesting. For one, the fact the cowhands didn't shoot them on sight is a good omen. For another, they probably didn't have a clue back then that what they were doing was going to be noticed. God knows that if I wasn't wearing pants I probably would have lost my gonads a long time ago in that damn brush. And who knows, maybe he was pulling my leg.
 
I have to disagree with you guys that say they never shed. I have personally picked up several sheds that were still in velvet. They are very light weight, and typically have a concave area where a normal antler would have the base.
I have also watched several cactus bucks grow antlers over the summer, and then return the next summer to the same area and grow another set of antlers, starting just like any other buck in the area.
We have killed 6 cactus bucks over the last 10 years, and they all had nuts, but they were the size of raisins.
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom