I have a "soft spot" for non-typical antlers. When I saw this buck on camera, I made up my mind that I'd take a shot if the opportunity presented, even though he really needed at least another year of age. You can't readily see them all in the trail cam photo, but he had 7 points on his right antler (basic 5 with a drop and a small sticker point)....two on his left. I had nicknamed him "Score=0."
Two weeks later and 3/4 of a mile from where the trail cam photo was captured I had my opportunity. Unfortunately, he had broken off a good chunk of his drop tine sometime during that period. Because his antlers were such an oddity, I had him mounted. The taxidermist told me that his skull was broken all the way from the back, past the pedicle, down through the middle of his eye socket, and to the top of his jaw! I bet that poor guy had quite a headache for some time....perhaps permanently. A fiberous hard black substance had filled in the crack in the skull. Whatever happened to him was so severe, the pedicle was forced into an odd position and stayed there making his left side main beam grow down then being broomed off...I assume as he fed and rubbed it against things while eating.
I've only had a few that I could clearly say it was the same buck year after year. Around my area, the difference in antler size/mass and body bulk of a buck changes drastically between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 years old.
