Deer sheds from the 'Wenas'

[hunterofelk]

Kind of a running gag amonst the Washington shed hunters is to give a very general area of where the sheds were found. I found the left side from this buck early the the spring back in 1997. A friend found the right side a year later along a fence line. I had to stain the antler and I filled a hole the varmits chewed open. I'm pretty sure these antlers match, but the right side is shorter and not a mirror image of the left side. The right side might be two years older than the left. Maybe it shrunk after being on the south side of the ridge for a year. Anyway I did an amateur job of mounting the rack and I searched for the buck the next year, but I think he died the winter of '97. If memory serves that was a tough year for deer on the east slope of the Cascades.

 

[RACKMASTER]

HUNTEROFELK
I beleave that buck an Blacktail right?
Its huge!
It looks just like an Buck I took two years ago(4x4)here in Nor Cal except on the right he did not have the junk but same mass! I will post an photo next time I get up to barn!
Rackmaster

 

[Hornseeker]

There's no pure blacktails in that country though, so it cant really be a "blacktail". Dandy, Dandy buck though!

 

[WAmuleyHunter]

Love those main beams, the way they both turn up like that. Awesome buck and finds. any measurements would be appreciated.

thanks
Garrett

 

[hunterofelk]

I have'nt measured the antlers yet, but I gave him a 22" outside spread and 15" height above the bases. If he was a blacktail he'd be pretty good, but I think our Utah friends would think he's a small mule deer. If you hunt the Wenas though, your hunting buddies would say 'Nice buck!'
The bases are very similiar and blacktail like, but the rest of the antlers don't match as well as I'm used to. Is it your experience that antlers shrink in mass and length after laying out in the sun for a year? Or maybe this buck was a little atypical.