Oddities_1_to

In this picture you can see that the
tree had completely grown around
the antler on the second tine up. I
cut as much of the tree as I could
carry. We were about half a mile
from the truck. Bull pine in this
area grow very slowly and I tried to
count the rings to see how old the
tree was. The horn was shaded
most of the time but still was pretty
weathered. The best I could come
up with, is that, the antler had been
hanging there between 35 to 50
years.

One year the family and I were up in an area
that we hunt frequently during hunting
season but this time we were looking for a
Christmas tree. I had also spent a lot of time
in the area looking for sheds over the years.
But when looking for that perfect Christmas
tree you tend to look in a little different
country.
We headed up into a saddle sizing up trees
as we went, when I noticed something
hanging down out of the limbs of an old Bull
Pine. When I checked it out I was presently
surprised to find an old elk antler that some
one had hung up in the tree many years ago.

I have mentioned this set of antlers
before on the antler shed tour but it is
worth a close up picture and
mentioning again.
It fascinates me that an animal could
survive this type of trauma and still
make it to the next year. In the back of
the left antler,at the base, is a hole big
enough to stick your little finger in. I
can only surmise that the buck had
been shot the year before and then
grew this antler the following year.
The part that you see to the left is
antler in a web form. Where the eye is
supposed to be is skull that is honey
combed. The skull had grown out
more on this side than the normal
side. It had to be a huge open sore all
the time the for the buck and I'm sure
he was blind on that side.
When I found him their wasn't much
left. He had been dead at least two
years.

This is the same buck for two years in a row.
One year I found both sides and the next year
only one side. The bases are inverted and the
antler at the base is as thin as an egg shell. If
you hold them up to the light you can see right
threw them. On the two to the left you can see
a small dark spot and that is because you are
looking through a hole in the antler. I hunted
for this buck for three years and never say him.
I also never heard of any one getting him but I
haven't found any sheds in a couple of years.
The brown antler to the right is almost the
same thing, only from a different area.