Dwarf Deer

[Ski]

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.

Yeah I hunt outside of AEDC but within a few miles of it. A biologist out there was actually one of the people who told me it's because of deer that were introduced and released on base. There were several places the deer came from. I don't recall them all but south TX was one of them.

It's crazy. Just a few miles north towards Murfreesboro or east to the plateau, west and south toward Franklin Co. and deer are pretty normal size. I even see a few here that are normal size. But most right around Manchester and AEDC are teenie weenie.

 

[Headhunter]

I killed a buck in middle Tennessee several years ago. When I first saw him at 300 yards or so, I thought there is a 150" deer. He managed to work through a thicket and stepped out right under me. I dropped him in his tracks. I was tore up. When I got down and grabbed his antlers, he felt like he weighed nothing. Mature deer with a small body. Fooled the heck out of me. This is what the deer looked like from the stand.

If I remember correctly he dressed out 115 lbs. He was no where near 150".

 

[redblood]

Seemed like bsk killed a large racked buck a tiny body

 

[redblood]

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.

Absolutely beautiful animal

 

[redblood]

Body size can throw you off in your estimation of the rack. I passed a buck 2x in illinois before i finally shot him. Heavy 9pt. He scored low 140s. I thought he would score 125 to 130 when he walked through because his body was so large

 

[redblood]

Yeah I hunt outside of AEDC but within a few miles of it. A biologist out there was actually one of the people who told me it's because of deer that were introduced and released on base. There were several places the deer came from. I don't recall them all but south TX was one of them.

It's crazy. Just a few miles north towards Murfreesboro or east to the plateau, west and south toward Franklin Co. and deer are pretty normal size. I even see a few here that are normal size. But most right around Manchester and AEDC are teenie weenie.

I use to work at AEDC (when i was in college) 3 days a week. I would notice that deer were tiny. I figured it was that their was no ag around and lots of pines

 

[MUP]

I use to work at AEDC (when i was in college) 3 days a week. I would notice that deer were tiny. I figured it was that their was no ag around and lots of pines

I saw a big racked 12 pt at the processor one time, but the body was very small. I asked "AEDC"?, and the processor said yep.

 

[BSK]

Actually, see this all the time. It can be fun to compare buck height at a given camera location. How high is his back compared to a branch he has to stand under to work a scrape? Some bucks are very tall, some very short. But interestingly, it doesn't change their body morphology. In essence, they still show the musculature for their age.

As others have pointed it, deer are like people. Some guys are 5' 6". Some guys are 6' 6". But even a guy 5' 6" can have the same muscle-frame as a guy 6' 6".

 

[Lost Lake]

Sounds like it's time to put a yardstick on a tree by the scrape and camera, and a sign that reads,"You have to be THIS tall to work this scrape."

 

[Specializedjon]

Pretty cool deer. You can't tell how small he is until you see it with the glove on his body. Holy smokes. Very cool and unique. You can't full body mount him cause everyone will think your taxidermist used the wrong manikin

Congrats.

 

[Specializedjon]

Actually, see this all the time. It can be fun to compare buck height at a given camera location. How high is his back compared to a branch he has to stand under to work a scrape? Some bucks are very tall, some very short. But interestingly, it doesn't change their body morphology. In essence, they still show the musculature for their age.

As others have pointed it, deer are like people. Some guys are 5' 6". Some guys are 6' 6". But even a guy 5' 6" can have the same muscle-frame as a guy 6' 6".

So are we calling this the @rem270 buck?

Had to.....sorry rem

 

[redblood]

Actually, see this all the time. It can be fun to compare buck height at a given camera location. How high is his back compared to a branch he has to stand under to work a scrape? Some bucks are very tall, some very short. But interestingly, it doesn't change their body morphology. In essence, they still show the musculature for their age.

As others have pointed it, deer are like people. Some guys are 5' 6". Some guys are 6' 6". But even a guy 5' 6" can have the same muscle-frame as a guy 6' 6".

Good comparison. But short guys usually are thicker and appear fatter/more muscular. Where as tall guys , even if overweight, have a leaner profile. So through this reasoning, big framed deer (skeletal frame) may appear younger and smaller framed deer may appear older. Although i think deer like the OP posted, are outliers anyway - probably not worth worrying about

 

[BSK]

Ever wonder why so many "big buck" pictures in magazines are taken in Texas? because the bucks are so small in body it makes their racks look huge in comparison. Not uncommon at all for mature bucks on some of the South Texas ranches to weigh only in the 150-175 range.

 

[Ski]

Sounds like it's time to put a yardstick on a tree by the scrape and camera, and a sign that reads,"You have to be THIS tall to work this scrape."

I've actually considered doing just that. Having a way to measure the deer would sure be helpful. The little deer don't look little. They look like deer. It's when you walk up to them after killing that you find out how big they are.....or aren't.

 

[Ski]

Ever wonder why so many "big buck" pictures in magazines are taken in Texas? because the bucks are so small in body it makes their racks look huge in comparison. Not uncommon at all for mature bucks on some of the South Texas ranches to weigh only in the 150-175 range.

And in Canada the rack looks so so but it's a booner!

 

[DayDay]

The deer is very short and stocky and the neck is really thick relative to its length. Thanks for posting this. The OP and comments are very interesting. I've googled dwarf deer and it seems like it could be that but then there is the mention of the area known for tiny deer.

 

[DayDay]

I'd never shoot a deer that was wearing a backpack. It should have been wearing a safety orange colored one...

 

[rem270]

So are we calling this the @rem270 buck?

Had to.....sorry rem

My buddy's parents had a lab/basset hound mix dog. It looked like a full blooded lab with basset hound legs. I told him that's definitely me if I were a dog

 

[BSK]

The deer is very short and stocky and the neck is really thick relative to its length. Thanks for posting this. The OP and comments are very interesting. I've googled dwarf deer and it seems like it could be that but then there is the mention of the area known for tiny deer.

Dwarfism does exist in whitetails, but this is not a dwarf deer.

 

[KPH]

When I was on Guam there was a smal native deer not any bigger than a German shepherd

 

[webfeet7]

Dwarfism does exist in whitetails, but this is not a dwarf deer.

Just to clarify I was not saying this is in fact a "dwarf deer", it was simply an interesting title. Also I have killed dozens of deer in this area and some of them are smaller body than others but none have been even close to this small.

 

[rifle02]

In my experience field dressing at 100 lb approximately is pretty representative of East tennessee, Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. I'm speaking mostly of younger dear though, one and a half year olds.

 

[BSK]

Just to clarify I was not saying this is in fact a "dwarf deer", it was simply an interesting title. Also I have killed dozens of deer in this area and some of them are smaller body than others but none have been even close to this small.

I was just commenting on DayDay's post about dwarfism. Yes, it exists in whitetails (and is often associated with piebaldism), but as you pointed out, this is just a small-framed deer.

 

[webfeet7]

I was just commenting on DayDay's post about dwarfism. Yes, it exists in whitetails (and is often associated with piebaldism), but as you pointed out, this is just a small-framed deer.

Funny you mention that, this deer had white hair mixed in all over his body..it didn't necessarily strike me as piebald looking at the time but it looked more like an old gray dog is the best thing I could think of.

 

[Lost Lake]

Yeah I hunt outside of AEDC but within a few miles of it. A biologist out there was actually one of the people who told me it's because of deer that were introduced and released on base. There were several places the deer came from. I don't recall them all but south TX was one of them.

It's crazy. Just a few miles north towards Murfreesboro or east to the plateau, west and south toward Franklin Co. and deer are pretty normal size. I even see a few here that are normal size. But most right around Manchester and AEDC are teenie weenie.

When I bowhunted Ft. Campbell hard back during the late 80's to mid 90's, I was always amazed at how a huge racked older buck could only dress 135-40 lbs there.

Seems like all the archery only areas deer look just like Texas bucks. Or, at least they used to. That was 30+ years ago though. Dang I sound old, but I'm really not!

 

[Ski]

Dang I sound old, but I'm really not!

Sure you're not

 

[Grizzly Johnson]

There was one time back in the late 80's, I was maybe 10-11 years old and hunting with my dad in Henry Co., around Cottage Grove… I was in a stand by myself for a morning hunt.. had a deer come by that had a little 6pt. rack… I was ready to shoot but it was tiny, not much bigger than the average Labrador Retriever … I almost convinced myself that I was so excited to hunt that I had imagined it… never told my dad because I didn't think he would believe me.

 

[Shooter77]

Yes, i've shot 2 bucks like this. Weird thing, both were from the same property less than 200 yards apart, but one was 1996 and the other was 2014. The first was a 8pt that scored 98 2/8". Shot him on black Friday trailing a doe and grunting on a foggy AM. he was 25 yards away when I shot him. I was excited as it was my biggest buck at the time. I had a 1986 ranger, we laid him across the bed of the truck between the wheel wells and tailgate. We didn't even had to bunch him up, cause there was room left...lol

The other, I was watching a ridge and see a buck. I grunted 2 times and he comes running. I shoot him at 15 yards. 7pt with antlers out past his ears. I walk over to him and was blown away at how small he was.

1996 buck, taxidermist aged at 4.5.

2014 buck, buddy and I aged him at 3.5 according to teeth wear.

 

[TheLBLman]

Has anyone had any similar experience with deer that seem almost miniature?

Yes. Many times over the years.

Around 15 years ago, I shot what I thought was a 140-gross mature 10-pt mainframe.
But he had a tiny body, very muscular, but only field dressed (if memory serves) @ 102 lbs!
And that relatively small body just made his rack look relatively large!
He did gross score 118, but, certainly not the large rack I had presumed.

In fact, body size vs antler size may be the main reason most our top-end antlered young bucks get killed at such a high rate. Above average sized antlers on a yearling or 2 1/2-yr-old buck can easily appear 20 to 40 inches larger than their reality.

Place a 115" rack on an average 2 1/2-yr-old buck's body, and many hunters will believe it's a 140-class rack when they kill it. And many these same hunters are having no issue giving a pass to 115" older bucks (with average or above average sized bodies).

 

[Ski]

In fact, body size vs antler size may be the main reason most our top-end antlered young bucks get killed at such a high rate. Above average sized antlers on a yearling or 2 1/2-yr-old buck can easily appear 20 to 40 inches larger than their reality.

Place a 115" rack on an average 2 1/2-yr-old buck's body, and many hunters will believe it's a 140-class rack when they kill it. And many these same hunters are having no issue giving a pass to 115" older bucks (with average or above average sized bodies).

How old was the tiny bodied 118" buck you killed? The buck the OP killed was not a young one by any stretch.