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!

 

[LiveOffLand]

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

 

[LiveOffLand]

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?

 

[redblood]

This pic was taken in early october. The buck
In the back is a buck i know fairly well. He is relatively mature. But super short legged. During prime rut he looked like a bullldog when he swelled up from rut

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

TIm Conway Buck!! LOL I have never seen anything like it!

 

[backyardtndeer]

Imagine that just like in people, everyone is not the same. Maybe he had some dwarf genetics. Still an impressive rack. I can't say as though I have ever seen a buck, that by all appearances was mature, that was that small though.

 

[Shim71]

I saw one in Missouri a couple of years ago that i was convinced was a dwarf deer. It was a short doe that weighed no more than 60-70 pounds but looked nothing like a yearling.

 

[Gravey]

He definitely looks bigger. Nice buck and congrats!

 

[cecil30-30]

I shot a 10pt a few years ago that was tiny. I did a euro mount on him and even his skull was considerably smaller than all the other euro mounts that I have.i think he dressed out right at 98 lbs.

 

[JN]

That is a cool buck and he doesn't look that small till you put the glove and backpack on him. Unless you're a giant and that is why he looks small with your stuff on him. Below is a picture of small body buck from the mountains of Unicoi.

 

[DMD]

That is really unusual! Wow. It's got to have some dwarfism in it, I would imagine. I think, for East TN deer, it falls outside the normal bell curve as far as size...especially considering his age and the fact he seems to be in good health. I bet that was a surprise when you walked up on him. LOL!

 

[Ski]

That is really unusual!

For the area maybe, but around here it's pretty normal. I got a call from taxidermist this morning about my deer. He said the form I picked won't work because the deer's neck is too short. Full rutty neck but too short for a shoulder mount that shows brisket. He said it's not uncommon for my area. I giggled because I already knew that. The deer was a 5yr old 10pt that wasn't as big as a lot of yearlings.

First year TN had the velvet hunt I shot the 10pt in the picture. On trail cam and on hoof he looked like a big buck. And proportionately his rack is big for his body. But I'd be surprised if he weighed 100lbs. My brother was visiting from Ohio and was hunting with me. He burst into hysterical laughter when we walked up on the buck. On trail cam the buck looked like a big 10pt, but he's used to that deer up there being 250lbs.

I've tried telling folks about these mini deer but nobody seems to grasp it until they see it in person. They look like deer. They act like deer. They're just half the size. I don't believe it's dwarfism. But I don't know what it is. I've been told it's from reintroduction but I've also heard credible sources say it can't be. So who knows? Nonetheless, parts of the state have a variety of miniature deer.

 

[DMD]

For the area maybe, but around here it's pretty normal. I got a call from taxidermist this morning about my deer. He said the form I picked won't work because the deer's neck is too short. Full rutty neck but too short for a shoulder mount that shows brisket. He said it's not uncommon for my area. I giggled because I already knew that. The deer was a 5yr old 10pt that wasn't as big as a lot of yearlings.

First year TN had the velvet hunt I shot the 10pt in the picture. On trail cam and on hoof he looked like a big buck. And proportionately his rack is big for his body. But I'd be surprised if he weighed 100lbs. My brother was visiting from Ohio and was hunting with me. He burst into hysterical laughter when we walked up on the buck. On trail cam the buck looked like a big 10pt, but he's used to that deer up there being 250lbs.

I've tried telling folks about these mini deer but nobody seems to grasp it until they see it in person. They look like deer. They act like deer. They're just half the size. I don't believe it's dwarfism. But I don't know what it is. I've been told it's from reintroduction but I've also heard credible sources say it can't be. So who knows? Nonetheless, parts of the state have a variety of miniature deer.

That's really interesting. I've hunted in middle tn and east tn. A little bit in midwest tn, I've never seen that. A friend of mine hunted at AEDC years ago and told me that the deer there were tiny.