Tarheelsaint Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Shot what appeared to be a big ole doe Saturday morning at 7:30, watched the deer jog right into my shooting range and shot it at 75 yards. Watched as deer ran 40 yards and dropped. Went just like i planned until i got up to it an hour later and saw it was a buck that had broken both sides off??? This was a nice big mature deer not a BB. First question have you ever heard of this? There is a chance this buck could no longer grow a rack i suppose but it looks more like he broke them off. Second question is how would you tag it?? I used a doe tag as there was no way to identify it as a buck on the hoof... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApexerER Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 One of the members in our club shot what he thought was going to be a nice 6 PT....Ended up being a half rack 3 because one side was completely broke off. He obviously had to tag that has a buck. In your case, yes, I would have tagged it as a doe..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdswtr Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Years ago my brother shot an 8pt, it ran down into a ravine. When tracking it he found one of its antlers that looked like it just shed, when he got to it the other side was laying on the ground next too it. They werent a broken but shed with some blood around the base. I helped him drag it out of there and it got a doe tag. About the oddest thing I ever seen deer hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheelsaint Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 When i got the buck back to camp we were trying to decide IF he ever grew antlers this season?? 3 of us think no and one guy thinks he broke them off early this season, the base were a hard and no sign of a recent drop...strangest thing i have ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landtracdeerhunter Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 A stressed deer will shed early. Weapon wounds are the most common reason. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjb4900 Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 doe tag, it's an antlerless deer..............how did you tag it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Real_TCIII Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Lets see a pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisw Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 If it has one antler that is 3" then its legally a buck. Less than that and its a doe... Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjb4900 Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 If it has one antler that is 3" then its legally a buck. Less than that and its a doe... Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk I think it's what's between it's legs that determines whether or not it's a buck or doe..........it's what on top of the head that determines whether it's an antlered or antlerless deer......... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisw Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 LEGALLY and literally are 2 different things. After all the question is "how do I tag it?" Doesn't matter what's between its legs as far as your tag is concerned... Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjb4900 Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 LEGALLY and literally are 2 different things. After all the question is "how do I tag it?" Doesn't matter what's between its legs as far as your tag is concerned... Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk oh, I thought tag asked the sex of the animal.......if you use an antlerless tag on a deer that is not legally antlered, you still have to tell them what the sex is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisw Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 oh, I thought tag asked the sex of the animal.......if you use an antlerless tag on a deer that is not legally antlered, you still have to tell them what the sex is.Yes that is true, this is more likely the case of button buck fawns. The OP asked which tag to use in his situation. Everyone is correct with "Antlerless." I could've worded that better the first time...Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philoshop Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 The sex is 'male'. The tag is 'antlerless'. No confusion there. You might take the head to DEC or a biologist to get more info on why he lost his antlers. At least make a phone call. I'd be curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheelsaint Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Thanks everyone for feedback, this was so weird i had to ask on this forum and see what people thought....i know deer under stress can lose their antlers but this seemed even early for that! Here is a pic sorry i didn't take one of his head. I did use an antlerless tag on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncountry Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 I just returned from 14 days of hunting 8m.. 4 of us saw a total of 4 " half rack" bucks. I saw 2 of them and they were not close enough to see if the antler broke off or not. Both of these bucks looked like they would have been typical 2.5 year old 8 points. The other 2 appeared to have broken off real close to the base and had 4 and 3 points left on the remaining sides.. Curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATbuckhunter Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Shot a deer on December 5th 2010 and as it ran one if its antler fell off. It was low logout by the time I walked up to it, I thought I shot the doe it was following by accident lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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