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Hunter bags 36-point freak-of-nature deer
JACKSON — The hunt for a 6-point management buck that spanned four years ended with a Philadelphia, Miss., man taking a rare 36-point giant. “I hunt there around my house,” Stan Ethredge said. “We’ve got a couple of hundred acres.
“I’ve been getting pictures of him for at least four years now. He was a big 6-point four years ago. He dropped his antlers and grew six points again. After the second year he was a 6-point, I figured that was all he was going to be. I figured he was a good cull buck, but I never got a shot at him. I just got pictures.”
Ethredge continued to monitor the deer and as expected, he grew into another 6-point the following spring, but during the summer, his antlers began to express abnormalities. The buck started growing drop tines and stickers.
Ethredge had one encounter with the buck last season, but wasn’t able to get a shot. However, his cameras were keeping track of the unusual antler growth. He never shed his velvet that winter and when all the other bucks had dropped their antlers, the unusual buck kept his — and they they continued to grow.
When this hunting season arrived, the buck had become a freak of nature. His antlers had grown into a mass of twisted and turned tines with massive bases. And he was still in velvet. Ethredge was almost able to harvest him right off the bat.
The buck had 36 points and a 16-inch spread. He measured 227
inches according to the Buckmasters scoring system.
As unusual as the antlers were, so were the buck’s reproductive organs, or lack thereof.
“Usually when their testicles are damaged, this happens,” Ethredge said. “He really didn’t have any. He had a slight bulge, but not like they should be.”
William McKinley, deer program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks said the deer’s antlers were consistent with a lack of testosterone production.