Buck Named Droopy With A Crazy Rack

Eli Martin with his first bow-kill, a very unique buck named Droopy that was taken in Oglethorpe County on Oct. 7.

Eli Martin is just 21 years old and in his first season of bowhunting deer. The Oglethorpe County resident never imagined that the first deer he would take would be so weird, or that it would be talked about by so many deer hunters in Georgia.

“My grandfather recently passed away, and I decided I would hunt on his property, which I had never done,” he said. “I set up a camera before the bow season and got the deer on camera. At first glance, I thought it was a doe. I didn’t know exactly what it was.”

Eli knew where to set up, but he may have set up too well on his first hunt for the buck.

“He actually came in right under me,” he said. “I couldn’t get a shot.”

Eli got his chance again on Oct. 7.

“This time, he came in about 20 yards away,” he said. “I shot and hit him, but I was afraid I may have shot a little high. He ran off into the woods into some really thick stuff. I was afraid he might knock his antlers off.

“I called my buddy, and he told me to just wait until he could get there. I waited about an hour. We went down there, and when we found him, his left antler was buried in some pine straw. I thought he had knocked it off.

“When I picked his head up, I could see both antlers were still there.”

Eli posted a photo of his buck with the drooped antlers on social media, and it triggered a firestorm of questions and speculation.

“The general reaction from everyone was, ‘What in the world?’ he said. “To me, it looks like the skull cracked in half and it filled with calcium.”

Charlie Killmaster, a WRD wildlife biologist and Georgia’s Deer Management Assistance Program Supervisor, saw a photo of the buck and offered his speculations.

“This deer obviously has a major issue with his pedicles, the part of the skull that antlers grow from,” he said. “One possibility would be a birth defect where the pedicles didn’t form in the correct location. Another would be an injury associated with a bacterial infection that causes abscesses in the skull.  Those infections can cause the bones of the skull to become brittle and prone to breaking.  I’ve seen abnormally located pedicles from a previous broken skull that healed over, but never quite this symmetrical.

“What another unique example of the strange process of antler growth!”

Levi said he plans to have the unusual buck mounted, but he has no plans to get it scored.

“I’m afraid the score would be a negative,” he said with a laugh.

Charlie Killmaster says, “This deer obviously has a major issue with his pedicles, the part of the skull that antlers grow from. One possibility would be a birth defect where the pedicles didn’t form in the correct location. Another would be an injury associated with a bacterial infection that causes abscesses in the skull.  Those infections can cause the bones of the skull to become brittle and prone to breaking.  I’ve seen abnormally located pedicles from a previous broken skull that healed over, but never quite this symmetrical.”