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19 point Doe from WV

wvfisherman

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wvfisherman

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Thought you would like to read about a 18 point doe from WV.

 

 

Hunter Mike Tomey of Lewis County shows off the unusual rack of a 19-point doe he killed on the Friday of the first week of buck season hunting near Sleethe's Run, near the Gilmer-Lewis County border.

Mike Tomey of Lewis County had high hopes for the 2009 deer season. All year, Tomey had spied a deer near his hunting area sporting quite a non-typical rack.

 

"I'd been getting pictures of it on a trail cam all summer and fall," said Tomey. "I thought it was a non-typical 9-pointer."

 

Tomey says in past years he'd see big bucks on his trail cam, but they be long gone by hunting season. Friday of the first week of buck season, Tomey was about to give it up for the day amid rainy, miserable conditions--but on his way out of the woods he spied the deer he'd been watching for months.

 

"He dropped at the sound of the gun and I couldn't wait to get to him to see what I had and when I got down there I realized I had more than I thought I did," Tomey said.

 

The rack was certainly non-typical, but with 19-points and three main beams. But that wasn't the most non-typical part. When Tomey lifted the back legs to begin the field dressing is when he noticed something was missing.

 

"I actually was back at the house before I realized I wasn't seeing things," said Tomey. "I field dressed it and had it off the hill. My neighbor came over and looked at it and said, 'That's a doe with antlers.' That's when it dawned on me that I wasn't seeing things."

 

The 19-points on the doe are still in velvet. It's a sight to behold, but not really a pretty one.

 

"It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen," laughs Tomey of his buck-- err, doe with antlers.

 

Even funnier is it's the biggest Tomey has ever taken. Prior to the antlered doe, the biggest buck he'd killed was a six-pointer.

 

The chance of a doe having antlers is about one in ten-thousand according to biologists. Antlers begin on a deer's head in the summer with a burst of testosterone. They start as tender flesh in velvet. When the length of daylight starts to shorten, a second burst of testosterone hardens the antlers and the velvet sheds. The doe apparently got the first rush, but not the second.

 

Biologists say a number of things can cause the odd condition. Hormonal changes during pregnancy are often the culprit.

 

Tomey's deer is attracting plenty of attention. Locals have worn a path to his door to have a look, many returning to give it a second look just to make sure their eyes aren’t deceiving them. At the Somerville Exxon in Linn, where Tomey is a regular, it was a wildfire story when he checked the deer in.

 

A couple of Conservation Officers were on hand to take a look, but before you wonder about a ticket the answer is no. Any deer with antlers longer than three inches above the head is a legal kill during buck season in West Virginia.

 

"It's kind of odd, but I've seen a couple of them before," said Larry Somerville who checked in Tomey's doe. "A few years back a guy brought one in, but not as big as this one."

 

Tomey doesn't really want to hang the deer on his wall, but hopes somebody will show an interest in the oddity.

 

"I’m hoping I can get somebody like Bass Pro Shops or Dick's to maybe mount it and put it someplace for people to see," said Tomey.

 

 

 

 

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