What say you experts?

Not sure. Just want to say...that looks nasty.

Can't tell... but is that an antlered doe?

Gunny456 said:

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We had a similar looking deer on our place years back. It ended up being a hermaphrodite. It had boy parts on the outside but also had a uterus and ovaries on the inside.
It grew a set of antlers but never shed them. So they stayed on its head and he/she wore them down and looked similar to your picture. We killed it.
Our TPWD biologist came out and she picked up the sex parts.
Does your picture show anything on its hocks?

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I had to get that from my sister so I don't have any other pictures of it. I'll ask. My son is down in Texas hunting and was told to pass on the nice buck and remove this one if it shows up.

I asked my father about it's balls. He said when he shoots it, he will let me know....

TAMUallen said:

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Can't tell... but is that an antlered doe?

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I only have the one shot from a cell phone. Maybe somebody will kill it and I'll report back.

Roger that. My wife took some pictures of the deer and the boy and girl parts. Been a long time ago (15 years or more) but she says she still may have them on a thumb drive. If she can find them I'll post.
If he/it does not have staining on the hocks it his more evidence of that condition as well.

My wife worked with our vet and she found the uterus and ovaries when gutting it.

There something off with it. Really old deer but super skinny neck relative to everything else going on. Could be an antlered doe or some kind of an issue elsewhere.

If it's a true hermaphrodite it will have both ovaries and nuts. That's what we had on the one.

If you're in Llano County it may be a cactus deer. Something in the Pink Granite soil north of Enchanted rock.

M-Neezy said:

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If you're in Llano County it may be a cactus deer. Something in the Pink Granite soil north of Enchanted rock.

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It is from NE of town in Llano County.

Cactus bucks can occur anywhere. Cactus bucks have constant soft velvet because they don't produce enough testosterone….and there is all kinds of causes for that…..including hermaphroditism. Testosterone causes the closing of the blood vessels in the antlers causing the velvet to dry and slough off…. if there is a lack of testosterone…. for various reasons… the velvet will stay soft with blood flow through it and stay that way.
In the Llano area, typically around areas that have granite outcroppings, it is has been thought that a particular type of mold or lichen grows on the granite rock that the deer ingest that causes their testicles to shrink and therefore they don't produce enough testosterone. That in turn keeps them in velvet year after year and they don't shed their antlers.

Had a buck in velvet and shedding velvet look like that. Huge bases and weird 4-8" bumpy spikes.

Haven't seen it on camera since, but it's on the list.

Age: 4.5
Score: 14.5
Needs another year.


*In all seriousness, I think that's a doe, or maybe a hermaphrodite. Glad yall are trying to cull it asap.

Gunny456 said:

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Cactus bucks can occur anywhere. Cactus bucks have constant soft velvet because they don't produce enough testosterone….and there is all kinds of causes for that…..including hermaphroditism. Testosterone causes the closing of the blood vessels in the antlers causing the velvet to dry and slough off…. if there is a lack of testosterone…. for various reasons… the velvet will stay soft with blood flow through it and stay that way.
In the Llano area, typically around areas that have granite outcroppings, it is has been thought that a particular type of mold or lichen grows on the granite rock that the deer ingest that causes their testicles to shrink and therefore they don't produce enough testosterone. That in turn keeps them in velvet year after year and they don't shed their antlers.

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Interesting…we're in nw llano county, a lot of granite, quartzite etc…We've seen these deer for 40 years…a lot of folk call them stags, locally. Generally very large deer and very good eating (larger than normal bucks). We always assumed larger because they never chase does and just eat. Most have some type of horn issues , but sometimes they are symmetrical. Genitals are generally screwed up.

This is first time I've heard of moss/mold connection. Thanks! We have a lot of unique rock outcroppings, including a huge one in back yard that's several hundred yards long a maybe 70 ft high? Most of these have interesting moss or lichens , many of which turn neon greenish color on the rocks . I still can't understand how it stays alive in the middle of summer without turning to dust and never returning.

Probably a transgender doe taking testosterone. Definitely shoot it.

DOG XO 84 said:

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Gunny456 said:

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Cactus bucks can occur anywhere. Cactus bucks have constant soft velvet because they don't produce enough testosterone….and there is all kinds of causes for that…..including hermaphroditism. Testosterone causes the closing of the blood vessels in the antlers causing the velvet to dry and slough off…. if there is a lack of testosterone…. for various reasons… the velvet will stay soft with blood flow through it and stay that way.
In the Llano area, typically around areas that have granite outcroppings, it is has been thought that a particular type of mold or lichen grows on the granite rock that the deer ingest that causes their testicles to shrink and therefore they don't produce enough testosterone. That in turn keeps them in velvet year after year and they don't shed their antlers.

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Interesting…we're in nw llano county, a lot of granite, quartzite etc…We've seen these deer for 40 years…a lot of folk call them stags, locally. Generally very large deer and very good eating (larger than normal bucks). We always assumed larger because they never chase does and just eat. Most have some type of horn issues , but sometimes they are symmetrical. Genitals are generally screwed up.

This is first time I've heard of moss/mold connection. Thanks! We have a lot of unique rock outcroppings, including a huge one in back yard that's several hundred yards long a maybe 70 ft high? Most of these have interesting moss or lichens , many of which turn neon greenish color on the rocks . I still can't understand how it stays alive in the middle of summer without turning to dust and never returning.

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Our group hunts in Katemcy and when we took over 5-6 years ago we had numerous of these bucks. We heard about the growth in the granite too. All of the bucks we shot had pea size balls. Once we started feeding protein and cottonseed, this condition mostly went away. The only ones we see now are deer we have never seen before.

Obligatory…..shoot it!

Obligatory, 3.5, needs another year