A young hunter shoots a rare buck that he has never seen or heard of before and is rare in Oklahoma and admits he didn't even know this type of buck existed before taking it out.

Picture of Major Edmonds with Rare Cactus buckPhoto byOklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC)

A teenager out hunting with his grandfather was shaking in the moments before taking the shot. He was very excited to harvest this large buck and later found out how rare it was.

17-Year-Old Hunter Shoots a 'Rare and Abnormal' Buck

KSWO 7 News reported that Major Edmonds from Altus, Oklahoma was out hunting with his grandfather when he got the hunting kill of a lifetime.

Major Edmonds, age 17Photo byKSWO 7 News

Major learned how to hunt from his grandfather, who has been teaching him this life skill since the age of 4.

"I was out there with my 82-year-old great-grandfather and he was the best person I could have been hunting with to kill that deer. It was crazy we were shaking when we shot it and walked up to it and saw it.” -Major Edmonds, 17-year-old hunter

Major described the experience to KSWO 7 News.

He said:

"Sunday morning as soon as the sun came up we could see him out there, we knew he was bigger than every deer in the field, and uh, you could just see solid black over his head, it was pretty cool." -Major Edmonds, 17-year-old hunter

The solid black Major described was the buck's antlers in the early morning hours. The reason its antlers were so massive was because of abnormal testosterone levels, and the deer itself is known as a "cactus buck" because of the abnormally large and unusual-looking antlers.

Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) reported in a Facebook post that cactus buck continues to grow velvet on their antlers and it can gather in a glob-like pattern due to "alterations in the testosterone."

A close-up picture of the velvet on the massive antlers can be seen in the picture below.

Close up of abnormal antlers on buckPhoto byCasey Major Edmonds on Facebook

Major said they had never seen this rare buck on a trail cam and didn't even know that it existed in the area. Now folks will soon be able to find the rare buck antlers mounted in their home in Altus, Oklahoma.

They are using the taxidermist in Iowa Park.

He said:

“They are going to freeze dry the rack to preserve all the velvet and all everything with the antler and spray it with some preservative on there and we will have that back in a few months.” -Major Edmonds, 17-year-old hunter

ODWC: 'Female Deer Can Also Produce Antlers Under Right Conditions'

Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) reported in a Facebook post that "female deer are also capable of producing antlers under the right hormonal conditions? Female antlered deer will stay in velvet due to hormonal imbalances and will have the same cactus buck look."

ODWC congratulated Major for his rare hunting kill but it isn't conservation of this rare cactus buck if none are alive to breed. Maybe that's how they want it, if they are trying to conserve the "healthy" gene pool by getting rid of abnormal populations.

Thoughts

Now it's time for readers to share their thoughts and opinions on this story.

• If you were hunting, would you aim for the rare cactus bucks?
• Do you think it's impressive that this 17-year-old harvested this rare buck?
• Have you ever seen any wildlife with a rare genetic abnormality?

Please like this article to congratulate Major on his rare buck, and share this on social media so everyone can be informed about this amazing hunting story.

Sources

Casey Major Edmonds Facebook profile.

Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) Facebook profile.

Kelso. "Oklahoma Hunters Snags a One-of-a-Kind Buck." Z94 Rock. 23 October 2023.

Winn, Anthony. "Altus teen bags rare 'cactus buck'." KSWO 7 News. 24 October 2023.