Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: Gamblin Guy on October 15, 2014, 05:24:30 PM

Title: Antlerless tag filled! Not your average antlerless deer......
Post by: Gamblin Guy on October 15, 2014, 05:24:30 PM: Got an invite to put my daughter in for an antlerless tag in the central part of the state and hunt some private ground. Due to a volleyball tournament on Saturday and commitments this coming weekend we only had Sunday to get it done. Our host promised us we'd find deer within a few miles of the house...300 yards from the house and 3 minutes after LST we had 6 does in a field but there had been a few bucks around so we decided to look for a legal buck and then come back to the does later. Drove around and checked several spots, put a great stalk on a group that had a buck that was borderline legal (2pt with an eye guard) but she decided to pass on him.

Did some glassing and found a few deer moving into a field and feeding, took us about 45 minutes to get into position and she made a good shot but needed one more to finish the job. We picked out the biggest bodied antlerless deer in the group and had it on the ground by 10am. It was pretty warm so we snapped a few pics and got it to the truck so we could get it gutted and skinned.

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2FIMG_5435_cropped.jpg&hash=62750a95acd2fe3b723dd0139e1ecb1fa3c7b87f)

Much to our surprise when we got to the deer we discovered there were extra parts between the legs but a slick head.....

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2F20141013_204947.jpg&hash=0f5cf1b07a7a7e557a0264abd6e1eeee990d147b)

Talked with the district bio this afternoon, he'd never heard of anything like this at this time of the year. Sent him the pics and put the head in the freezer, he may be sending me a tooth envelope to see if we can figure out how old this deer is. The scent glands on the hind legs were virtually nonexistent, I killed a doe in September during archery season that I think had bigger ones.

This thing was loaded with fat and a big bodied thing. Will finish grinding burger tonight, should be almost 50 pounds of burger, 4 roasts on the hind quarters, backstraps and tenderloins already cleaned up and in the freezer.

My 14 year old little girl got it done again.
Title: Re: Antlerless tag filled! Not your average antlerless deer......
Post by: Smokepole on October 15, 2014, 05:29:17 PM: That is weird...
Title: Re: Antlerless tag filled! Not your average antlerless deer......
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 15, 2014, 05:56:15 PM: That is for sure different. I know a few guys that have got does with horns.
Title: Re: Antlerless tag filled! Not your average antlerless deer......
Post by: sled on October 15, 2014, 06:36:43 PM: Awesome story for sure. Big deer.
Title: Re: Antlerless tag filled! Not your average antlerless deer......
Post by: RadSav on October 15, 2014, 06:50:33 PM: Years ago I read a story of a California hunter who shot one similar. The bio there blamed it on drinking from cesspool runoff. Figured that the amount of still active birth control in the system was effecting the hormone balance in the buck. I've since heard similar hypothesis to explain reduction of fish reproduction in ponds in close proximity to cesspools and waste composting areas.

Regardless of the reasoning...pretty dang cool trophy! Congratulations to the young hunter :tup:
Title: Re: Antlerless tag filled! Not your average antlerless deer......
Post by: erk444 on October 15, 2014, 07:36:43 PM: There's another thread from this year where a guy killed a nice buck and the antlers popped off when they tried to drag it out. Wierd :dunno: