One had breakage of the hard antler and another sustained injury to velvet antlers. Two of them had skull and/or pedicle damage and malformed pedicles. Nine of 20 (45 percent) 21⁄2-year- old bucks exhibited some form of pedicle, skull or antler malady contributing to their spike-on-one- side antler development. Three of 10 (30 percent) yearling buck antler sets had sustained breakage of the hardened antler, but none had pedicle or skull damage. Interestingly, young bucks were less likely than older bucks to exhibit symptoms of pedicle or skull damage. In other words, contributing factors for nearly 40 percent of the collected specimens were undetermined and were likely caused by other factors than direct injury to the pedicle or surrounding area of the skull. Probable cause of spike-on-one-side antler formation could be determined for 43 antler sets.

Hunters provided additional information relative to date and location of harvest, as well as any other visual signs of bodily trauma such as old gunshot wounds or broken bones. Once the antlers and skull materials were cleaned, the researchers estimated deer age, recorded the number of typical antler points per side and categorized any damage to the skull, pedicle or antler. To test their theory, the Auburn researchers collected 71 sets of antlers showing the spike-on-one-side phenomenon from hunter-harvested bucks in Alabama during two hunting seasons (2010-12). Hence, they question the merits or procedures involved in buck culling strategies designed to minimize the occurrence of such abnormalities.

This assumption has fueled the notion that these bucks should be removed from the population.īased on prior observations, Auburn University researchers Gabriel Karns and Steve Ditchkoff hypothesized that the spike-on-one-side antler phenomenon resulted from damage to the skull and/or antler pedicle - not heredity traits. Many believe that bucks with a spike antler on one side, but a normal branched antler on the other, possess inferior genetics for antler growth. A relatively common antler abnormality observed in members of the deer family, whitetails included, is referred to as spike-on-one-side.

Mounted spike deer