It is not often that a hunter gets a chance to take an 8-point buck, so when a group of Alabama hunters got the rare opportunity, they were pretty excited.
But, according to a report, when they got the deer with the big rack back home and started cleaning it, they were startled.
Turns out, what they bagged was something far more rare than an 8-point buck. It was an 8-point doe. Kind of.
That’s right. The big deer had a full rack of antlers, but no visible male reproductive parts, according to reports. And, officials with Alabama’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division’s Deer Program said they’ve never seen anything quite like what the group brought in.
“I’ve seen a few over the years that looked like does externally that had antlers,” Chris Coo, the department’s coordinator, said. “But it’s not physically possible to do that and be fully functional does. I’ll get reports about a few each year in Alabama. The ones I usually hear about are the ones with fully developed antlers but are still covered in velvet. They have enough testosterone to start the antler growth but not enough to complete the cycle.”
Matt Kelley, who was identified as the leader of the band of ‘Bama hunters, said the group actually took five bucks during their hunting trip. And, the only inclination something might have been off about the one in question, he said, was a skinny neck, which one of the men brought up.
Source: Hunters who thought they killed an 8-point buck got a big surprise when they got the deer home
