LAFAYETTE COUNTY, Mo. (WDAF) – It’s rare enough to find and shoot a buck with a 19-point rack of antlers. However, one young Missouri hunter found this impressive crown on top of a female deer.
Brenden Marsh, 18, of Oak Grove, shot the doe with antlers in Lafayette County during the November firearms deer season. When he began field dressing the carcass, he realized the deer didn’t have a male anatomy. Instead, he found an udder.
“When I saw it, it was walking with four does, and a buck trailed 20 yards behind them,” Marsh told the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Antlers can grow on does with unusually high testosterone levels, according to the MDC. The antlers on true females are usually still in velvet far past the time when bucks have hardened their antlers for fighting over does during the rut or mating season.
“It’s my first deer to take with a rifle,” Marsh told the Missouri Department of Conservation. “This is definitely the biggest by far for me.”
Antlered does or anomalies, such as white or albino deer, occur in low numbers. However, these traits are generally bad for survival, and these animals usually do not live as long as others.
