@whitetailpress posted this picture on Twitter and asked: Found this crazy shed while out turkey hunting. Ever seen anything like this?
Yes. While a third beam/tine growing out of a buck’s face is rare, there have been quite a few unicorn bucks documented over the years.
What causes this rarity? It could be simply a freak of genetics, or scientists say a freak tine on the front facial bone of a buck can be caused by trauma, such as a tine puncture from another buck. Strangely, another tine then sprouts out from there.
Most freak tines grow out from the long, flat facial bone on a buck, though there have instances of weird tines sprouting around and even out of an eye socket, like with the Kansas buck pictured below.