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A frosty Bedford County November morning had Les Spradlin in his deer stand hoping to get a glimpse of the deer that had avoided him for the last 4 years. Les is an accomplished hunter who has harvested many nice bucks including one that has a Virginia score over 190, but there was one Crazy Deer that kept him getting out of the bed each morning.
Over the last 4 years Spradlin had been seeing a crazy velvet horned deer that looked like nothing else he had ever seen in the woods. This deer that he simply calls "Crazy Deer" was initially seen on trail camera in 2009 and Les has seen the deer a handful of times live, but each time it was during bow season and the deer was out of range.
Spradlin told me that when he encountered this deer during bow season that it was often accompanied by other bucks and seemed very cautious. He also told me that each year when November came this buck would basically disappear and become nocturnal.
Although the property that Les hunts is more than 250 acres, each of his encounters and trail camera pictures of this animal were all within a 1000 yard range. This deer was an absolute focus of Spradlin's and with lots of surrounding property hunting pressure he often inquired with other property owners as to whether they had ever seen this Crazy Deer. Les even checked with the local taxidermist through the years to see if this deer had showed up in his shop. All reports were favorable- no sightings!
So when Les climbed into his stand on the morning of 11/20/14 his hopes were high on seeing his Crazy Deer. It was a cold and quite day and as mid morning approached a gang of turkeys arrived along with a coyote right in the midst of the birds. This opportunity was too much for Les and he decided to take the coyote out.
Shortly after his coyote harvest he decided to get down out of his stand and headed slowly out of the property. As he cautiously walked along he spotted a young 8 point buck about 200 yards away acting nervous and looking around. Well aware that mid November is a great time to be in the woods Spradlin stopped and remained motionless while he watched the action hoping that a bigger buck might be in the area.
As the hunter stood there watching intently all of the sudden a deer jumped up out of a nearby thicket and bolted. To Spradlin's surprise it was the Crazy Deer and it was quickly departing. Spadlin tried to stop the deer by making deer sounds with his mouth and after the deer had covered some 250 yards it slowed and turned back. This experienced hunter was prepared and had his 300 short mag Winchester rifle steadied on his shooting sticks.
It was now or never so Spradlin softly pulled the trigger and the deer again bolted into another thicket. The hunters adrenaline was pumping at this point, but he stood still to see if the deer emerged from the thicket. After no more action he decided to phone his brother to come into the property from the opposite direction and they would converge on the thicket from both sides.
The Crazy Deer was found piled up in the thicket and the celebration began. This celebration was taken to another unique level when Les began to closely examine this Crazy Deer and found that this velvet horned buck was not a buck at all it was a DOE!!
That's right this mysterious and reclusive Crazy Deer was a Doe in Bucks clothing.
* Most studies say that a hormonal imbalance plays the leading role in female whitetail deer developing antlers and although this is definitely a unique occurrence this situation has been reported throughout the history of deer hunting. Also most female deer that develop antlers just like this "Crazy Deer" never shed the antlers and the antlers remain covered in velvet for the deers existence**
Crazy Deer was 5.5 years old with 18 scoreable points and it's live weight was 165lbs. The score is yet to be determined, but I will update this article as the information becomes available.
Les Spradlin can check this off his "Buck..et List" and there is no doubt that this will be the most unique harvest of his hunting career!
Jeff Phillips
A frosty Bedford County November morning had Les Spradlin in his deer stand hoping to get a glimpse of the deer that had avoided him for the last 4 years. Les is an accomplished hunter who has harvested many nice bucks including one that has a Virginia score over 190, but there was one Crazy Deer that kept him getting out of the bed each morning.
Over the last 4 years Spradlin had been seeing a crazy velvet horned deer that looked like nothing else he had ever seen in the woods. This deer that he simply calls "Crazy Deer" was initially seen on trail camera in 2009 and Les has seen the deer a handful of times live, but each time it was during bow season and the deer was out of range.
Spradlin told me that when he encountered this deer during bow season that it was often accompanied by other bucks and seemed very cautious. He also told me that each year when November came this buck would basically disappear and become nocturnal.
Although the property that Les hunts is more than 250 acres, each of his encounters and trail camera pictures of this animal were all within a 1000 yard range. This deer was an absolute focus of Spradlin's and with lots of surrounding property hunting pressure he often inquired with other property owners as to whether they had ever seen this Crazy Deer. Les even checked with the local taxidermist through the years to see if this deer had showed up in his shop. All reports were favorable- no sightings!
So when Les climbed into his stand on the morning of 11/20/14 his hopes were high on seeing his Crazy Deer. It was a cold and quite day and as mid morning approached a gang of turkeys arrived along with a coyote right in the midst of the birds. This opportunity was too much for Les and he decided to take the coyote out.
Shortly after his coyote harvest he decided to get down out of his stand and headed slowly out of the property. As he cautiously walked along he spotted a young 8 point buck about 200 yards away acting nervous and looking around. Well aware that mid November is a great time to be in the woods Spradlin stopped and remained motionless while he watched the action hoping that a bigger buck might be in the area.
As the hunter stood there watching intently all of the sudden a deer jumped up out of a nearby thicket and bolted. To Spradlin's surprise it was the Crazy Deer and it was quickly departing. Spadlin tried to stop the deer by making deer sounds with his mouth and after the deer had covered some 250 yards it slowed and turned back. This experienced hunter was prepared and had his 300 short mag Winchester rifle steadied on his shooting sticks.
It was now or never so Spradlin softly pulled the trigger and the deer again bolted into another thicket. The hunters adrenaline was pumping at this point, but he stood still to see if the deer emerged from the thicket. After no more action he decided to phone his brother to come into the property from the opposite direction and they would converge on the thicket from both sides.
The Crazy Deer was found piled up in the thicket and the celebration began. This celebration was taken to another unique level when Les began to closely examine this Crazy Deer and found that this velvet horned buck was not a buck at all it was a DOE!!
That's right this mysterious and reclusive Crazy Deer was a Doe in Bucks clothing.
* Most studies say that a hormonal imbalance plays the leading role in female whitetail deer developing antlers and although this is definitely a unique occurrence this situation has been reported throughout the history of deer hunting. Also most female deer that develop antlers just like this "Crazy Deer" never shed the antlers and the antlers remain covered in velvet for the deers existence**
Crazy Deer was 5.5 years old with 18 scoreable points and it's live weight was 165lbs. The score is yet to be determined, but I will update this article as the information becomes available.
Les Spradlin can check this off his "Buck..et List" and there is no doubt that this will be the most unique harvest of his hunting career!
Jeff Phillips
A frosty Bedford County November morning had Les Spradlin in his deer stand hoping to get a glimpse of the deer that had avoided him for the last 4 years. Les is an accomplished hunter who has harvested many nice bucks including one that has a Virginia score over 190, but there was one Crazy Deer that kept him getting out of the bed each morning.
Over the last 4 years Spradlin had been seeing a crazy velvet horned deer that looked like nothing else he had ever seen in the woods. This deer that he simply calls "Crazy Deer" was initially seen on trail camera in 2009 and Les has seen the deer a handful of times live, but each time it was during bow season and the deer was out of range.
Spradlin told me that when he encountered this deer during bow season that it was often accompanied by other bucks and seemed very cautious. He also told me that each year when November came this buck would basically disappear and become nocturnal.
Although the property that Les hunts is more than 250 acres, each of his encounters and trail camera pictures of this animal were all within a 1000 yard range. This deer was an absolute focus of Spradlin's and with lots of surrounding property hunting pressure he often inquired with other property owners as to whether they had ever seen this Crazy Deer. Les even checked with the local taxidermist through the years to see if this deer had showed up in his shop. All reports were favorable- no sightings!
So when Les climbed into his stand on the morning of 11/20/14 his hopes were high on seeing his Crazy Deer. It was a cold and quite day and as mid morning approached a gang of turkeys arrived along with a coyote right in the midst of the birds. This opportunity was too much for Les and he decided to take the coyote out.
Shortly after his coyote harvest he decided to get down out of his stand and headed slowly out of the property. As he cautiously walked along he spotted a young 8 point buck about 200 yards away acting nervous and looking around. Well aware that mid November is a great time to be in the woods Spradlin stopped and remained motionless while he watched the action hoping that a bigger buck might be in the area.
As the hunter stood there watching intently all of the sudden a deer jumped up out of a nearby thicket and bolted. To Spradlin's surprise it was the Crazy Deer and it was quickly departing. Spadlin tried to stop the deer by making deer sounds with his mouth and after the deer had covered some 250 yards it slowed and turned back. This experienced hunter was prepared and had his 300 short mag Winchester rifle steadied on his shooting sticks.
It was now or never so Spradlin softly pulled the trigger and the deer again bolted into another thicket. The hunters adrenaline was pumping at this point, but he stood still to see if the deer emerged from the thicket. After no more action he decided to phone his brother to come into the property from the opposite direction and they would converge on the thicket from both sides.
The Crazy Deer was found piled up in the thicket and the celebration began. This celebration was taken to another unique level when Les began to closely examine this Crazy Deer and found that this velvet horned buck was not a buck at all it was a DOE!!
That's right this mysterious and reclusive Crazy Deer was a Doe in Bucks clothing.
* Most studies say that a hormonal imbalance plays the leading role in female whitetail deer developing antlers and although this is definitely a unique occurrence this situation has been reported throughout the history of deer hunting. Also most female deer that develop antlers just like this "Crazy Deer" never shed the antlers and the antlers remain covered in velvet for the deers existence**
Crazy Deer was 5.5 years old with 18 scoreable points and it's live weight was 165lbs. The score is yet to be determined, but I will update this article as the information becomes available.
Les Spradlin can check this off his "Buck..et List" and there is no doubt that this will be the most unique harvest of his hunting career!
Jeff Phillips
A frosty Bedford County November morning had Les Spradlin in his deer stand hoping to get a glimpse of the deer that had avoided him for the last 4 years. Les is an accomplished hunter who has harvested many nice bucks including one that has a Virginia score over 190, but there was one Crazy Deer that kept him getting out of the bed each morning.
Over the last 4 years Spradlin had been seeing a crazy velvet horned deer that looked like nothing else he had ever seen in the woods. This deer that he simply calls "Crazy Deer" was initially seen on trail camera in 2009 and Les has seen the deer a handful of times live, but each time it was during bow season and the deer was out of range.
Spradlin told me that when he encountered this deer during bow season that it was often accompanied by other bucks and seemed very cautious. He also told me that each year when November came this buck would basically disappear and become nocturnal.
Although the property that Les hunts is more than 250 acres, each of his encounters and trail camera pictures of this animal were all within a 1000 yard range. This deer was an absolute focus of Spradlin's and with lots of surrounding property hunting pressure he often inquired with other property owners as to whether they had ever seen this Crazy Deer. Les even checked with the local taxidermist through the years to see if this deer had showed up in his shop. All reports were favorable- no sightings!
So when Les climbed into his stand on the morning of 11/20/14 his hopes were high on seeing his Crazy Deer. It was a cold and quite day and as mid morning approached a gang of turkeys arrived along with a coyote right in the midst of the birds. This opportunity was too much for Les and he decided to take the coyote out.
Shortly after his coyote harvest he decided to get down out of his stand and headed slowly out of the property. As he cautiously walked along he spotted a young 8 point buck about 200 yards away acting nervous and looking around. Well aware that mid November is a great time to be in the woods Spradlin stopped and remained motionless while he watched the action hoping that a bigger buck might be in the area.
As the hunter stood there watching intently all of the sudden a deer jumped up out of a nearby thicket and bolted. To Spradlin's surprise it was the Crazy Deer and it was quickly departing. Spadlin tried to stop the deer by making deer sounds with his mouth and after the deer had covered some 250 yards it slowed and turned back. This experienced hunter was prepared and had his 300 short mag Winchester rifle steadied on his shooting sticks.
It was now or never so Spradlin softly pulled the trigger and the deer again bolted into another thicket. The hunters adrenaline was pumping at this point, but he stood still to see if the deer emerged from the thicket. After no more action he decided to phone his brother to come into the property from the opposite direction and they would converge on the thicket from both sides.
The Crazy Deer was found piled up in the thicket and the celebration began. This celebration was taken to another unique level when Les began to closely examine this Crazy Deer and found that this velvet horned buck was not a buck at all it was a DOE!!
That's right this mysterious and reclusive Crazy Deer was a Doe in Bucks clothing.
* Most studies say that a hormonal imbalance plays the leading role in female whitetail deer developing antlers and although this is definitely a unique occurrence this situation has been reported throughout the history of deer hunting. Also most female deer that develop antlers just like this "Crazy Deer" never shed the antlers and the antlers remain covered in velvet for the deers existence**
Crazy Deer was 5.5 years old with 18 scoreable points and it's live weight was 165lbs. The score is yet to be determined, but I will update this article as the information becomes available.
Les Spradlin can check this off his "Buck..et List" and there is no doubt that this will be the most unique harvest of his hunting career!
Jeff Phillips
