What is a cryptorchid buck? Hunter just killed one of the rare creatures in Tennessee

A hunter in west Tennessee is being credited with taking down a Cryptorchid buck after three years of playing cat and mouse with the rare creature, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Cryptorchid bucks are healthy but abnormal animals that suffer from a birth defect involving their testicles, leading people to mistake them “for antlered does,” the state posted on Facebook on Saturday.

As a result, the creatures have traits of both genders, the strangest of which is a full growth of hair, or velvet, that remains on their antlers throughout their life, experts say.

State wildlife officials called it a “once in a lifetime deer.” Logan Hanks harvested the animal Jan. 2 in “pouring rain” on his 200 acres near Covington, a town 40 miles northeast of Memphis.

“Logan has been watching/hunting this buck for three years and has pictures of him from all three years with his unusual velvet antlers,” state officials posted on Facebook.

The buck was nearly 7 years old and had “13 scorable points” on its set of velvet-covered antlers, officials said.

“Cryptorchidism is a rare condition that randomly occurs in whitetails and has nothing to do with genetics,” state officials posted. “It happens because of a birth defect that prevents the testicles from descending, and the testicles remain in the abdominal cavity.”

Such bucks behave more like females than males and have no interest in mating, officials posted.

“Their antlers will remain in velvet year-round, and they continue to grow as the animal matures,” state officials wrote. “Antlers of very old bucks will develop deformities and abnormal points, which allows them to grow into freaks, often known as a ‘cactus buck.’”

This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 7:23 AM with the headline "What is a cryptorchid buck? Hunter just killed one of the rare creatures in Tennessee."