Deformed stag mystery

While early season stag stalking in Scotland, I came across an odd-looking beast on the hill. He was clearly a mature or at least a middle-aged animal judging by his body shape and the thickness of his neck. The antlers looked as though they had stopped growing at a very early stage and were no more than small, velvetcovered lumps, with what looked like very small spikes coming from them. We were not able to get a shot on him, so he lived to fight on. What might have caused this type of deformity?

The most likely explanation I can offer is that the stag you saw has either been deliberately castrated and then released or escaped, or it has suffered some sort of permanent damage to its testicles through injury.

Captive animals that have been castrated before maturity will often grow small, velvet-covered lumps like the ones you describe and have a longer leg length, depending on the age at which they were castrated.

It is possible that there was some other issue, either hormonal or disease-related, which might have caused the condition. I suspect the only way to be sure would be a post-mortem examination. IW