Uneven Moose Antlers

[longleader]

After reading Brambles 2008 Whitetail post, I got to thinking, yes, if we don't post about our adventures, then this site will be the less for it.

So, in the interest of helping stave off cabin fever, if only for a minute, and against all my natural tendencies, I'm a gonna put up a couple pics of a moose I got a couple of weeks ago. Also I am wondering about what may have happened to this animal in the past, to cause the changes to the right side of his head. The right ear is shorter than the other, as well it appears to have been sliced into 3 parts, with the center part healed in a down position. There appeared to have been some damage to the right eye as well. And in the antler picture you can see the big difference between the right and left sides, the right being noticeably smaller. I'm leaning towards an attack by a predator when the moose was younger, judging by the ear damage which to me seems most likely to be caused by teeth.

So - now the real work is about to begin:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/longleader/004_4-2.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/longleader/004_4-2.jpg)





Some of the meat hanging at home:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/longleader/IMG_3243.jpg



The antlers, showing the results of some previous misadventure:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/longleader/IMG_3264.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/longleader/IMG_3264.jpg)

[BCKID]

I shot a two point a few years ago that had several broken ribs and back leg. They were all healed up and he showed no sign of injury before I shot him. I think he had been hit by a car or something. His hind 1/4 on the one side was smaller than the other. Still taste good tho. BCKID

[Will]

Nice Bull !
Thanks for the look ! :D

[boxhitch]

Geez, I thought you were leading into pix of some real deformity. Those are actually pretty close compared to lots I've seen. Moose are not generally very uniform compared to deer.
That ear does look chewed up, but Bulls can get strange wounds from fighting also.
We killed on this year, about 59" 200 pts, that was standing in belly deep water. Something didn't look right about his droopy jaw, but thats not eaten anyways.
Turned out his jaw was broken, both sides, at the back of his mouth. He had the typical punctures and bruising from recent fighting,and was in good shape otherwise. The broken jaw was a little pussy, must have been a recent battle. He would have been toast within a week.

[reach]

Our LEH bull from this year was a little uneven too. ;)

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk255/o_nerka/hunting/PDR_0076.jpg

[mark]

Our LEH bull from this year was a little uneven too. ;)

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk255/o_nerka/hunting/PDR_0076.jpg

Heres a question??? Who all would shoot this moose in a "spike-fork" season?? I sure would!

[Kye]

Heres a question??? Who all would shoot this moose in a "spike-fork" season?? I sure would!

I don't see a spike or a fork?

[Brambles]

Thanks for posting up, and keep up the good work, looks like a nice bull and your right his hear is really shreaded. I'm guessing its damage from fighting, moose are some of the most agressive rutters and with the numerous amounts of points their paddles can have and with the shear mass of the rack it would be fairly easy to separate and ear and cause eye damage.

I'm putting my vote on fighting.

[Rusty]

Thanks for the look. Both Bucks I shot this year had one side half broken off, and the one buck had no antler on one side at all.

[boxhitch]

Heres a question??? Who all would shoot this moose in a "spike-fork" season?? I sure would!Less than two on the right, defined as bull by the left ?

[guest]

Nice bull the first one, an average bull, common to see uneven sides, the ear is fighting character!
The little one sided bull posted.
Depending on the defined width of the point base across to create less then an inch of tine, it may be legal as a 2pt. fork, or just barely a 3 pt. ........
close to call. He'd have to be close to judge or no shooting should occur.
Just a guys opinion.
CT

[longleader]

Thanks.

The injury, as pointed out, could likely have been from fighting another bull. They can get pretty rambunctious all right. It was just sort of odd how the ear had been neatly slit in two parallel gashes. A few years ago I found a big 4 point mulie lying down on a side road, nearly dead, bleeding from his neck. I called a CO who dispatched it, the deer had been fighting and had a deep antler puncture in the lower neck. It would not have survived.

Yes it was a decent moose, I was fortunate to have my hunting buddy along to act as a pack horse, it had to be dismantled and packed out in pieces. Whereas when you are bear hunting you should have a companion who is a slower runner than you; when moose hunting it is good idea to have a buddy along who is much stronger than you….:smile:

[gamehunter6o]

If a male deer (any species) has an injury to it's foot, leg or testicle, the opposite side antler growth will be affected. The antler will grow weak, malformed, or if the lower part of the leg is missing , grow no antler at all.

[hunter1947]

Nice pic of your moose longleader ,thanks for posting the pic ,lots of meat off this guy ,congrats to you on shooting this fine bull.

As for shooting this bull moose in the pic that has 3 points on the left side ,I would not pull the trigger on it if I did not have a LEH tag..

[Big Daddy Ryan]

Heres a question??? Who all would shoot this moose in a "spike-fork" season?? I sure would!

I could have sworn we just had that thread???

[longleader]

If a male deer (any species) has an injury to it's foot, leg or testicle, the opposite side antler growth will be affected. The antler will grow weak, malformed, or if the lower part of the leg is missing , grow no antler at all.

That's very interesting, I did not know that. Although its undercarraige appeared to be normal, there appeared to have been some sort of former injury to its left front foot.

The thing about the antlers was not that they were deformed as such, in the normal sense, but that to me the two sides at first glance almost appear as if they could belong to different age classes of animal. But then I certainly don't get to see as many examples as many of you do.

Although I shot quite a few moose in my younger years, growing up in Wells Gray Park, only 3 of those were bulls, my mother (the cook) showing keen disappointment when I didn't connect with a dry cow. Antlers impressed a young me much more than they did my parents :redface:, who heavily relied on wild game for our meat requirements. And this year has been the first year that I got a LEH draw for moose since the GOS ended in Region 3, other than for spike/forks. And I spend probably far to much of the most productive days of moose season chasing big rainbows on the fly, but I'm not complaining...

Thanks 1947, from another 1947, and yes - lots of meat, shared with my packhorse companion too!:smile:

[Orangethunder]

Nice bull. I got one a couple of years ago that appeared to have been hit by a vehicle. The right antler was a small 6 point with a bit of a paddle and the left was a stump about 3 inches long with a ball on the end. The left leg was also broken at the knee. It had healed into a large ball but was still quite crooked. Otherwise he appeared to be a healthy moose.

My brother also got one that was pretty uneven. I would guess that the smaller side was only 80% of the healthy side. At the base of the antler there appeared to be some kind of infection which was very aromatic. It also weakened the antler enough that it broke off when the bull fell. I dont think he would have gotten far in a fight.

I would say its a fairly common occurance in some parts of the province.

[gamehunter6o]

I've just remembered another case of an old injury causing antler malformation. About 20yrs ago my wife shot a red stag during the rut in heavy bush. It had 4 points one side and just a vertical spike on the other. I was puzzled by this as all 4 feet and legs were ok and testicles looked normal. A couple of days later I skinned the head right out and discovered a lead (no jacket) .22 projectile embedded in its pedicle on the spike side. This would have impeaded the blood supply to the antler on that side.
It must also be realized, if the antler is damaged in any way in its first 20 days of growing it will grow malformed, even into a split beam.

[CanuckShooter]

I shot a bull once that was 10 on one side with a large palm, and spike fork on the other...found an old bullet hole in his off side [opposite small antler side] front ankle. I'd read about this in a deer study before. Also shot a bull once that had what appeared to be a perfectly formed 4 pt mulie type antler on one side...and a deformed antler on the other...if it hadn't been attached to the moose you'd have put money on it being a mule deer antler.

[Fisher-Dude]

I shot a bull once that was 10 on one side with a large palm, and spike fork on the other...found an old bullet hole in his off side [opposite small antler side] front ankle. I'd read about this in a deer study before. Also shot a bull once that had what appeared to be a perfectly formed 4 pt mulie type antler on one side...and a deformed antler on the other...if it hadn't been attached to the moose you'd have put money on it being a mule deer antler.

Same here. I shot a 38 incher that had a 5 point paddle on one side, and a "cape buffalo horn" type spike with a brow tine on the other. Butcher showed me an old 30 cal slug that he found all healed over in its shoulder.

There was a photo spread in Bugle a few years back that described how bull elk with injuries on one side often grew gimpy antlers on the other side.