Dwarf Deer

[webfeet7]

Backstory: In 2021 I started getting pictures of a deer that I figured was 3 1/2 years old and had a rack that was somewhere around 115-120 inches. I watched him that season to see what he would become. Summer 2022 I immediately start getting pictures of him again and he had put on about 10 inches. My first thoughts weren't on his rack, but about how huge his body looked. Everyone who saw pictures of this deer all said the same thing…he just looked like a massive deer. Keep in mind he was never in pictures with other deer so you couldnt really compare his body size.

2 days ago I ended up killing this deer and as soon as I walked up to him I was completely in shock. This deer was TINY. My first thought was that it looked like my golden retriever. I had a buddy come help me drag and he immediately started laughing at the size of this deer. After getting it out of the woods we weighed it and it weighed in at a whopping 100 pounds field dressed and stood only 34 inches tall at his shoulder. His nose was about 2 inches shorter than every deer I have on the wall. He still had an impressive rack gross scoring 125".

Has anyone had any similar experience with deer that seem almost miniature? I will try to include trail cam pictures and the best picture showing his actual size. This is in the East TN mountains for reference.

 

[MUP]

Coues deer interbreeding?

 

[MUP]

You're right tho, looking at the pics he seems to be a monster old buck!

 

[Urban_Hunter]

Never seen it… but that is awesome!

 

[ttf909]

Looks like a very mature buck.

 

[EastTNHunter]

I've killed a few deer that I thought were good until I walked up on them. Their racks looked good from a distance because their bodies were so small. And this wasn't from long distance either. These have also had light bone structures though, as I just skull capped them and their skulls were thin

 

[PossumSlayer]

Wow!

 

[deerdills]

Wonder if he has issues in November, or just waits for the yearlings to be ready?

 

[deerdills]

Wonder if he has issues in November, or just waits for the yearlings to be ready?

Had issues

 

[tndeerman]

Different for sure, any deer is a nice

 

[30-06 type of guy]

Yup. My first year at laurel hill I had a group of dogs chase some on the next ridge over. So I went over there when things settled down and jumped a deer. As I'm watching him in my scope I see horns that's lower than his back. I put my gun down to actually see it and it turned out to be a piebald dwarf. Being as they have antler restrictions and it was my first time there I held off cuz I wasn't 100% sure at the time. Still haunts me now.

 

[megalomaniac]

Super cool! How interesting. We had one about 10y ago that we thought was a 140in 8pt, killed him and he had a small body... so only 132in antlers. But not as small as the one you killed!

Waiting for the rem270 jokes to start.

 

[Ski]

Congrats on a great buck!

No idea what the deal is with his size, but he sounds pretty normal for around here. Most of the deer around these parts are more akin to coues or keys deer than the normal woodland variety.

 

[larry ipock]

Seen a full body mount of a perfect 12 pt. in a grocery store/check station in 1995. Ther deer couldn't have weighed more than 90/110 pound live weight.

 

[Snake]

The pie bald I have mounted was like that but I have heard piebald sometimes are dwarfed .

 

[larry ipock]

Forgot to say that was in Jackson County.

 

[Volbuck777]

I have one on the wall I killed a few years back. He scored 124. He weighed about 110 dressed and was at least 4.5. He was shorter than every deer in the field even the doe he was chasing. This was also an East Tennessee buck. What county did you kill in?

 

[webfeet7]

Marion county. I'll also add that this deer had a good deal of white hair mixed in all over his body. So he might have possibly been carrying some piebald genetics

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

I would say he is probably run down from the rut

 

[timberjack86]

What county?