Pennsylvania hunter of 60-plus years surprised by what he found on the buck he shot
After hunting for more than six decades, Vernon "Buddy" Yoder thought he had seen it all in the woods, but he was in for a surprise.
Yoder, 78, of Somerset, Pennsylvania, shot a buck on Nov. 28. As he and his son, James, walked toward the deer, his son said, "Oh my lord, he has velvet yet."
The 8-point deer was taken with a .308 rifle on one of their farm fields near their home. Yoder has hunted since he was 12 years old, and this is the first time he’s encountered a velvet buck this late in the year.
"I couldn’t believe it," he said.
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The velvety flesh and blood vessels cover the antlers during the summer growth cycle. Typically, deer in Pennsylvania have shed and rubbed off that furry skin from their antlers by the beginning of September. The rare condition of a buck retaining its velvet happens when a buck doesn’t have the testosterone level of a healthy male deer, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Jeannine Fleegle, a wildlife biologist for the agency, wrote a blog about the topic, saying, “Insufficient testosterone production is usually due to loss of or damage to testicles or to a birth defect where the testicles do not develop.”
Travis Lau, communications director for the agency, said the abnormality also happens on the rare occasion when a doe grows antlers.
Yoder said his deer had testicles. “They were there, but they were small,” he said, comparing them to what he has seen on other bucks over the years.
He talked to a taxidermist who explained how to preserve the velvet with a mixture of salt, water and Borax. The process worked. More than a month later, the velvet is still soft and fully attached to the antlers.
He plans to have the antlers mounted on a board to remember the unusual hunt.
"It shocked me," Yoder said.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Hunter gets deer with velvet rack during Pennsylvania's rifle season
