Whitetail365: The Deer Hunting Blog From Field & Stream

Well, we received only four replies to my request for an explanation of what was happening with Testosterone Tilly (my nickname for Kent Halstead’s cam-tracker deer). Most agreed that this is an antlered doe, and from what we can tell, that assumption is probably correct. Kent himself has researched this topic thoroughly, and the consensus among most biologists is that on rare occasions a doe will produce enough testosterone to grow a set of antlers...but not enough to complete the velvet-shedding, antler-hardening, horn-dropping cycle of an actual buck.

I do find it fascinating that this deer has rarely been seen by Kent, a devout hunter who spends many, many hours in a treestand each fall. This in addition to massive campaigns devoted to shed hunting, scouting, food plotting and running a trail camera circuit. Since this deer is highly recognizable and would not be missed by Halstead, her wraith-like disposition begs the question: Do older does become as nocturnal and secretive as bucks, or is Tilly’s disappearing act just a function of her personality?

If nothing else, Tilly is an example of the endless fascination a “common” game animal like the whitetail can generate. She also serves as a poster girl for the appeal of scouting cameras; when they’re out there, it’s amazing what you can learn about your deer herd! With that in mind, I encourage any of you with interesting and/or exciting trail cam pics to send them in. They don’t have to feature antlered does for us to post them!

My friend Kent Halstead is a whitetail nut of the highest order. In addition to being a highly skilled hunter, he’s a student of deer who spends a lot of time observing and learning. As partial evidence, I offer the following series of trail-camera pics that Kent sent me this week. They offer a multi-year glimpse into the life of one special deer. I’ll let him tell the story of this whitetail, then ask for your comments: What’s going on with a deer that grows a freaky rack that never loses its velvet?

"For several years, I had been getting some strange pictures of a deer that looked like it had big balls of velvet on its head.

Then on September 16, 2005 I got a strange picture of a freaky velvet antlered deer. What I found really odd was that all the other bucks at this time of year had shed their velvet. The other thing I found strange was this deer was always with doe groups and not part of a bachelor group of bucks typical for this time of year."

"The following fall my trail cams produced this photo..."

"Each Winter while doing camera surveys the deer would show up with big balls of velvet still on its head after all the other bucks had shed. In some cases, I could see that the extreme cold was frost cracking the living tissue."

"In August of 2007 I found this picture on my camera and I really started getting interested in learning more about what was going on with this deer. I spent days researching all the information I could find about abnormal antler growth."

"I still have never laid eyes on this deer and I put my fair share of time in the bow stand each fall. Each year I would come up with a new series of pictures of this deer, which would send me back in time going through tens of thousands of pictures trying to piece the puzzle together.

The last picture was taken this summer on 6-24-2008. And so the story continues..." - Kent Halstead

We don’t get a lot of reader mail here at Buck Tracker, but this note came in this week from a gentleman in Pennsylvania. He writes:

Me and my neighbors are puzzled by a female deer who is always alone she is not afraid if one gets near her to throw some bread, apples ect.  But she is always alone no deer friends, family, just always alone.  We think she was kicked out of a tribe or maybe has a disease all though she looks perfectly healthy.  Thank you for your time me and nieghbors would greatly appreciate any info you may have.

Without more information I am kind of reading between the lines, but I’ll take a guess that the doe in question is getting her share of handouts in the form of  “bread, apples, and ect” (whatever ect is..perhaps a new energy drink?).

Well, funny things happen when people feed deer. Some whitetails will take a tidbit and remain nervous about it for life. Unfortunately others quickly get used to the program and start pondering such deep thoughts as “why eat tree buds?”  Or “welfare is so much nicer than foraging!” And—in the case of this creature, I’m guessing—inanities like “am I truly a deer? Or perhaps something cooler…a Holstein cow? A golden retriever?”

Don’t get me wrong; I have fed deer in the winter and enjoyed watching their antics. It also gave me a warm, happy feeling inside. But I have the advantage of hosting a hard-hunted (and therefore highly nervous) herd of about 10 whitetails that—no matter how good the eats—are still scared to death of me. Plus, once the snow leaves, I derail the gravy train and let my friends fend for themselves. I suggest you do the same. In my opinion, your doe has not been ousted by her “tribe” and if she is vertical and taking nourishment she is probably not diseased. Of course, I’m wide open to further diagnosis from my Buck Tracker tribe…

Your thoughts?

It is months away from deer season, and already I’m seeing more bucks—indeed, more deer overall—than I have in the last several years. This is surprising to me, considering the winter we endured in the upper Midwest, one of the toughest in recent memory. So it is a good thing to be seeing deer, and remembering their amazing capacity to tough out snow and cold and wind for months on end...and then start pumping out fawns and growing antlers and doing all the things they do so effortlessly each year.

Still, even with all this good news, it is still too early to make any legitimate prediction about how hunters will fare in the upcoming season. Except, that is, for this: It is going to cost us a heckuva lot more money to chase deer around than it ever has. Here in Minnesota, gas prices are dancing around $4 per gallon, and though I used to ignore doom-n-gloom predictions about rising petrol costs, I’d have to be an idiot to do so now.

So I’m looking into my crystal ball (which has a reflective prism into my bank account) and wondering what to cut for the fall ahead. How much will I save if I don’t run a scouting camera trail this year? Should I reduce the number of evenings I drive to my hunting spots and glass for bachelor groups? And though I’m lucky enough that, in a typical year, I get to deer hunt in two or three states, maybe this fall would be a good one to stick close to home. So what about you? Are fuel costs going to affect your planting and/or maintenance of food plots? Scouting trips? Actual deer hunts? Or will you bite the bullet and just accept high gas prices as necessary pain for being a deer hunter? Tell me your thoughts, and share the price of a gallon of unleaded (or diesel) in your area….