Return of the atypical buck

Five years ago to the week, I posted photos of an atypical whitetail buck that looked like it had grown a set of antlers better suited to an axis deer. You can check out the photos here. Go ahead, I'll wait. At the time, I wondered if the buck were perhaps a hybrid offspring of a whitetail/axis mating, as there are many feral axis roaming Central Texas. Axis bucks have been observed chasing whitetail does on occasion, but it was thought the species were genetically incompatible for breeding. After posting those photos in 2015, I shared them with deer experts at Texas A&M and received this nifty response:

The antlers are certainly unusual and rather axis-like but not out of the range of variability shown by white-tails, second long tines from the base do occur on white-tails if there is damage to the pedicel and some populations have dark antlers. Dr Mungall was doubtful that the buck was an axis hybrid, she has seen pictures of 2 from captive deer and says the hybrids should show more axis characteristics in their body such as the big while throat patch of an axis. But we have only seen a small picture, you saw the entire animal so it is a possibility, they can interbreed in captivity ... Since the more common and closer related white-tail - mule deer hybrids are infertile I doubt an axis hybrid would be fertile. But if he is just an unusual white-tail he should have a few interesting sons in the future.

So, firstly: Wow! Whitetail/axis hybrids are indeed possible, albeit highly unlikely. Secondly, the buck from 2015 probably wasn't a hybrid, because apart from the antlers, he didn't show much in the way of axis traits, most obvously markings. And since the winter of 2015, I have not seen any whitetail bucks with atypical antlers--and we've got more whitetail than you can shake a stick at! That is, until the past few days when this fellow below showed up with striking, atypical antlers that bear a passing resemblance to those of an axis:

Now, let me be clear that this most certainly isn't that buck from 2015. Whitetail buck have a life expectancy of about 6 years in the wild, so the one from 2015 would be six, at the youngest, and this one isn't six years old and in decline. I'm not an expert, but I'd guess it's maybe 4 years old at most. Now, axis bucks have a lifespan of 9 years or more, but again, the original probably isn't a hybrid. This guy, in all liklihood, is the offspring of that atypical buck from 2015. He certainly has a spectacular pair of antlers, showing some, but not all, of those traits that so captured my attention several years ago. He's a gorgeous boy!

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