What happened to this buck?
Filed under: Ask Grant, Deer Biology
Question
I shot an 8 point buck on day 2 of Missouri’s deer season. He was a 3 year old, I think. The buck’s testes were the size of a peanut shell. Past deer, and even smaller deer, had much bigger testes. I’m wondering if this deer could even breed. What could have happened? He also had a swollen lower left leg but his rack was normal. Thanks for any feedback. Jeff
Congrats on harvesting a mature buck! It sounds as if the buck has been injured. Bucks with messed up testes almost always have a deformed/non-typical rack. I suspect he was injured after he shed his velvet and before you harvested him.
