14-point deer turns out to be doe
The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa — A hunter thought he might have bagged a trophy buck when he shot a 14-point deer in northeast Iowa earlier this month.
Eric Weymiller, 25, of rural Harpers Ferry, started to field dress the animal when to his surprise he noticed it wasn’t a buck at all.
“I noticed right away it was missing some plumbing,” said Weymiller, who shot the animal Dec. 7 in Allamakee County.
He discovered he was dressing a doe sporting antlers with 14 tines, a big rack even for a buck.
“I stopped field dressing the animal and called a DNR biologist,” Weymiller said. “I wanted them to document this.”
Iowa Department of Natural Resources Biologist Terry Hainfield confirmed that the animal was female.
“It is unusual to find a doe with antlers, but what makes this particularly unusual is that the antlers had hardened and grown so big,” Hainfield said.
More research will be required to determine whether the deer’s antlers are large enough to set a record for doe antlers.