Deer antlers - one side different than the other

[rj23nyr]

I saw a nice 8 pointer today. One side was different than the other - the main beef was beefier and all of the tines were longer. Does anybody know why this would happen?

[Jeremy K]

I read that it can be from an injury on that side of the deer .

[grampy]

Perhaps an injury of some sort to the opposite side of the deer, from the deformed side of his rack.

[ATbuckhunter]

Deer like most other animals, are rarely perfectly symmetrical so its not uncommon to have antlers of different size. Could be because of an injury or just because that's how he grew them. 

[kpkot]

shot one like this last year. Had a old wound on spine from previous year.

[Lawdwaz]

I've heard different stories over the years but sure don't know for sure.  My garage wall has a real variety of odd balls, all loved equally. 

[nyantler]

Could be an injury to the pedicle itself which would carry that difference throughout his life. If its a body injury that heals it will most likely correct itself next year. It is possible however that its just a genetic trait in his bloodline

Edited October 21, 2015 by nyantler

[rj23nyr]

shot one like this last year. Had a old wound on spine from previous year.

 

I had my bino's out but he was showing me the good side. I couldn't tell if there was any sort of wound. No limp in his stride. It was very noticeable though - he had a great rack on one side and the other side was puny. 4 tines on each side.

[rj23nyr]

Could be an injury to the pedicle itself which would carry that difference throughout his life. If its a body injury that heals it will most likely correct itself next year. It is possible however that its just a genetic trait in his bloodline

 

I was leaning away from this cause because both of his sides looked normal. They were just so mis-matched.

[GreeneHunter]

I shot an 8 pointer years ago .... 5 on one side 3 on the other ... would've loved to have seen the fight !

[nyslowhand]

Other than the obvious injury making one side different than the other, not all buck's racks are created equal!! Not uncommon to see side to side variations, tall narrow racks, low & wide ones, more points on one side than the other, kickers, one side skewed somewhat. etc. Just the way they grow! And maybe genetics, like a number of bucks I'd seen/gotten with no brow tines over a period of a few years. Broken tines are a completely different issue!

[growalot]

ticks and flies

[nyantler]

I was leaning away from this cause because both of his sides looked normal. They were just so mis-matched.

I would bet it's just a bloodline thing... usually injuries result in a greater deforming of antlers than just a slight size difference.