Where did the term "benchleg" come from?

[fishnfur]

OK - I'm bored.  Somebody make me laugh or impress me with your knowledge - Outright lies are fine too.

Where did the term "benchleg" come from.  Anyone know???

[Duckslayer89]

Benchleg is a deer with short legs

[wadu1]

Hmm, I thought it referred to deer that live on steep slopes and only travel in one direction, thus they have legs longer on one side than the other. 

[RadSav]

The best answer I have received was from a biologist working on muledeer studies in south central Washington back in the eighties.  He claimed the term "Benchleg" was easier to say and sounded better than "Short Cannon".  This sounds possible as an equestrian conformation flaw for short legs would be "Short Cannon".  And since a blacktail/muledeer cross has short cannon bones compared to pure muledeer...   "Benchleg" then being lost in translation from the equestrian term of benchleg (or offset cannons) which basically means crooked legs.

[Duckslayer89]

The best answer I have received was from a biologist working on muledeer studies in south central Washington back in the eighties.  He claimed the term "Benchleg" was easier to say and sounded better than "Short Cannon".  This sounds possible as an equestrian conformation flaw for short legs would be "Short Cannon".  And since a blacktail/muledeer cross has short cannon bones compared to pure muledeer...   "Benchleg" then being lost in translation from the equestrian term of benchleg (or offset cannons) which basically means crooked legs.

radsav is this really true? I was just throwing it out there haha sounds like it's possible

[RadSav]

The best answer I have received was from a biologist working on muledeer studies in south central Washington back in the eighties.  He claimed the term "Benchleg" was easier to say and sounded better than "Short Cannon".  This sounds possible as an equestrian conformation flaw for short legs would be "Short Cannon".  And since a blacktail/muledeer cross has short cannon bones compared to pure muledeer...   "Benchleg" then being lost in translation from the equestrian term of benchleg (or offset cannons) which basically means crooked legs.

radsav is this really true? I was just throwing it out there haha sounds like it's possible

Your guess is as good as mine.   But he seemed like a well educated bio to me.  And it's the most logical explanation I have heard yet.  So I would say it is an absolutely 100% true speculation possibility! 

[link]

Short Cannons it is! I'm going to be referring to a lot of the blacktails posted on here from now on as short cannons! Just kidding...don't anyone get butt hurt. If theres a pine or oak tree in the pic, its a short cannon.
Sounds better than benchlegs anyway.

[Bill W]

I heard of it back in the sixties when referring to beagles.  Some were stocky (and called benchleg).  The others were skinny and rangy.

Maybe it's just a term for something (or somebody) that's fat enough where their legs look short.

[buckcanyonlodge]

Shot my first deer around Goldendale  back in the 60's and lots in the Yakima area after that . Never heard the term benchleg referring to a cross deer ( mule /blacktail cross )  . They were either a full mulie or a cross deer. Someone came up with that cute term and most of the young deer hunters that don't know better use it to this day. I will never call a cross deer a benchleg...ever.      Maybe you should be politically correct and call them a trans-specie deer.

[mossy8352]

Shot my first deer around Goldendale  back in the 60's and lots in the Yakima area after that . Never heard the term benchleg referring to a cross deer ( mule /blacktail cross )  . They were either a full mulie or a cross deer. Someone came up with that cute term and most of the young deer hunters that don't know better use it to this day. I will never call a cross deer a benchleg...ever.      Maybe you should be politically correct and call them a trans-specie deer.

[RadSav]

I heard of it back in the sixties when referring to beagles.  Some were stocky (and called benchleg).  The others were skinny and rangy.

I had heard that a "Benchleg" beagle was an attempt at a new world breed beagle.  Since the Talbot hound had become extinct the new world breed had to be bred with Basset hound instead of the old world Talbot.  The Basset breed gave these beagles shorter and crooked front legs compared with the true traditional Great Britain breed. 

I remember reading this in an article at the vets office about five years ago.  Breeders were causing a big hubbub surrounding this because the AKC was not recognizing the new breed as a separate entry.  Of course my memory isn't what it used to be...so I might not be remembering all the details correctly.

[Kittman]

Tossing my yarn version in the ring for  ”Benchleg” theory:  It could be plausible that Cascade Blacktail deer that have adapted to life on the East side by interbreeding at areas East the PCT.  Any BT deer wandering from the West side do not know where the WDFW GMU unit boundaries lie, so they also do not know they are not supposed to breed with MD.  Some believe that these hybrids may comprise of roughly 70% BT mixed with 30% MD genes.  Considered MD by WDFW GMU for unit boundary classification purposes.  Their tails have the dominate appearance of a BT,  with some that may display a solid Black stipe down the middle of the tail.  Also many bucks have long forks on wider spread heavy beams and most importantly, the body of these deer is much heavier and more robust, making their legs look shorter, with larger hoofs.  Bench Leg name was probably formed because of many mispronunciations involving deer descriptions of Bench Lake area deer and subsequently coined over many undocumented campfire (circa: think earlier Bigfoot like, or Mel Waters Hole type stories) stories told long ago originating in the areas surrounding Bench Lake, located SE of Mt. Adams.  Appearance attributes are likely as result of a many generations of BT developing unique characteristics in a different geography along with maybe some nutritional advantages.

[runamuk]

I have no idea but I love the amount of hatred there is for the term  so I sport it in glorious rainbow colors because rainbows also draw so much hatred its sort of a double win for me.


There is a thread around here somewhere with a bunch of people claiming the term was coined anywhere from California to Alaska anywhere from the 1940's to yesterday.

[fishnfur]

Thanks Runamuk.  That made me smile and giggle.

I found an explanation by googling it  - similar story about short legs in comparison the the large body.  I assume they were comparing the appearance to that of the legs of a bench, which presumably have shorter legs than say,......a chair?    

I like the Bench Lake story - I could buy that one too.

BTW - did you know that "runamok" is a Malay word meaning to run wild in a violent frenzy?

[RadSav]

BTW - did you know that "runamok" is a Malay word meaning to run wild in a violent frenzy?

That seems fitting!      Are you Austronesian Runamuk?