Mule deer ivory?s?

[runamuk]

A buddy of mine was boiling out the skull of a muley he shot this year when he discovered it had an ivory, apparently the other one was lost during the process.
Anybody ever seen or heard of this on a mule deer?
Hers a photo next to a couple of elk ivory?s for comparison.

 

[stillhunterman]

Yeah it happens, but not very often, in fact might be considered rare. From what I remember the gene for vestigial upper canine teeth in deer is still in the pool, though not prevalent at all. Your buddy is lucky indeed!

 

[Critter]

Looks like a tooth

 

[stillhunterman]

>Looks like a tooth


It is a tooth, an upper canine and thus a pretty rare find. Its a vestige of prehistoric tusks that deer and elk once had.

 

[Homer]

back when they used to eat meat??

 

[ICMDEER]

Yes, seriously. I shot a buck with those canines in Colorado a few years ago. Had him done by beetles as a European and saved those teeth. Looks pretty cool.