Sometimes whitetails grow antlers that are just plain goofy!
Everyone loves seeing big bucks and big sets of antlers. Most people really enjoy a big, perfect 10- or 12-point buck.
I have to admit, though, I do really like some of the wacky and goofy antlers that pop up from time to time, too. Deer antler growth is a crazy thing, and finding oddities in antler development is fascinating to me.
Here are 11 strange sets of antlers we found, both on the internet and in real life, that prove nature can be downright goofy at times!
Curly Sam
These antler deformities look like something out of a Tim Burton movie. They're really weird, but incredibly unique. I wish I'd found this one!
That's a narrow spread!
Travis Smola
I took this photo myself actually. The North American Whitetail Hall of Fame in Grass Lake, Michigan, has many strange sets of antlers in their collection. This shoulder mount is one of the weirder ones. It's not often you see main beams nearly touching like this.
Is he chewing on his antler?
This picture has actually been circulating the internet for years now, but it's worth a second share. To be fair, bucks with antlers that drop down like this aren't rare. I photographed a mule deer with one in Wyoming. But this one is more uncomfortable than most simply because the antler's actually in the deer's mouth! It's probably best a hunter put him out of his misery.
Lopsided
This one comes from Brandon Jennings of Drury Outdoors. Let's face it, if you found the sheds off this freak of nature and didn't know any better, you probably wouldn't immediately think they were a match. It looks like this buck definitely had an injury on that side.
U-Turn
Here's another strange one from Brandon Jennings' Instagram account. He's certainly getting some strange bucks on camera this year. We're not sure what may have caused this buck's strange antlers, but you have to admit, they're quite interesting-looking!
The Club
This one was a fan photo shared by Drury Outdoors a few years back. Obviously this is probably one of the most extreme cases of velvet injury one might see. It looks extremely painful, doesn't it?
Rightside Double Club
I found this skull too, and didn't really know what to think when I first saw it. I still don't know what to think! I could have called him "Headache" too, because he's got this weird bony growth on his skull. I'm thinking he lived through some serious migraines!
Blinders
It's one thing to see one antler growing in the wrong direction. But to have it happen to both has to be exceedingly rare. You have to feel sorry for this poor buck. How did he see or eat with his antlers like this?
Chicken Foot
Travis Smola
This is a set of shed antlers out of my personal collection. While you can see the right side was normal, albeit broken off, the other side formed into this weird palmated, almost double-beam thing. It took me over a month to find the matching normal side some 400 yards away after first stumbling on the foot side deep within a swamp.
That's a weird 5-pointer...
Now that's a mismatched set of antlers. This wild deer must've had a major injury on his right side for this weird lopsided rack to happen.
Have you ever seen a deformed spike like this?
We're not even sure what to call this one. Those are some teeny-tiny antlers, though.
This is just plain ugly!
This one wasn't just lopsided, he's a cactus buck, too.
Mother Nature sure can be goofy at times. That's why nothing really surprises me with antlers anymore. You just never know what weird growth you'll see next!
NEXT: #WHITETAIL WEDNESDAY: THE REST OF THIS WHITETAIL ROOM WILL MAKE YOUR HEART SKIP A BEAT
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