.jpg "Jake holding his exceptional Sitka Blacktail taken in 2009. (Photo courtesy of Jake Jacobson)")
Since 1994, when I harvested the first non-typical deer in my experience, I’ve seen an alarming increase in the frequency of sterile bucks in the Kodiak Archipelago. These bucks are sterile due to a developmental abnormality called cryptorchidism—one or both of their testes do not descend into the scrotum, but remain in the abdominal cavity about midway between the kidneys and the pelvis. If only one teste remains in the gut, the buck is fertile, but if both remain undescended, the buck is sterile. Antler development runs the full spectrum, from wildly non-typical, carrying velvet until time of shedding, to polished antlers with no apparent difference from a normal buck.
Behavior of cryptorchid bucks, or cactus bucks as they are known, seems as variable as their antler development. Generally, the cryptorchids seem to be more twitchy and difficult to stalk than either normal bucks or does, but I have witnessed sterile bucks mounting multiple does and dominating other bucks in rutting battles. These dominant individuals seem as tunnel-visioned as normal rutty bucks.
To my knowledge, the earliest confirmed case of cryptorchidism in the Kodiak Archipelago was for a buck killed on the road system in 1964. That buck is currently the No. 1 non-typical Sitka Blacktail Deer in the Safari Club International record book. The condition was not generally known in the area at that time. I noticed the huge rack in the home of an older, very reliable resident and asked him if it had any testes in the scrotum. He said no and detailed its huge size and remarkable amount of fat.
This cryptorchidism condition is becoming more widespread throughout the Kodiak Archipelago. However, in areas of high incidence of this form of sterility, the deer population is, understandably, decreasing.
Bookings for transported deer hunters were not forthcoming in 2009, so my friend and I decided to just go hunting for ourselves. Tough decision it was not!
One day this season my good friend and assistant guide, Rob Coyle, and I decided to hunt a new area. As Rob moves faster and with greater ease than I do, when we came to a ridge, I suggested we each go our own way. Rob went left toward the higher country, so I turned right, following a low peninsula with little cover. As the wind was steady at 30 to 50mph that day, with about 28-degree temperatures, I cruised the terrain paying attention to the lee side, expecting to see deer hunkered out of the wind. By mid day, after going about three and a half miles and only seeing 10 does, with very little sign, I decided that I would not waste time in this area in the future. Then, in a small pocket about 800 yards ahead, I saw the only buck of the day. It carried velvet and had a wide spread.
.jpg "Unilateral Cryptorchid. Top - undescended teste, Bottom - Scrotal (normal) teste. (Photo by author)")
A doe was bedded a mere 8 yards from my only route, but she did not get up, and I closed the distance to around 400 yards. With my 10x40 Leitz binoculars, I could clearly see drop tines on both antlers, as well as other non-typical points. This was a very good Sitka Blacktail buck!
As I began crawling toward the swale where the buck was browsing, I avoided a large pile of very fresh bear droppings.
At about 150 yards, a doe stood up near the feeding buck and stomped her front foot. The buck’s head came up, he looked my way, and the two deer tore off to the left. With no time to locate a rest and the deer about to go over a small ridge and out of sight, I stood and held just in front of the buck’s neck. The 200-grain Hornady reload broke his neck, and he pitched forward and tumbled out of sight.
.jpg "Bilateral Cryptorchid. Both testes undersized and remain in the abdominal cavity. (Photo by author)")
I was concerned that his fall and tumble downhill would result in broken antlers, as these velvet cryptorchids typically have under calcified, fragile headgear. When I got to the fallen deer, the doe stood close by, reluctant to leave until I was within about 5 yards. I was relieved to see that none of the tines were broken, but he had dropped in a small pocket just below a ridge line, making it a bad spot to be butchering a deer should a bear come to the sound of the shot and approach from the hill above. I took blood and tissue samples and had the meat tied on my packboard in less than 25 minutes.
As I’ve been active as a master guide in northwest arctic Alaska and a transporter in the Kodiak Archipelago for more than 40 years, I am in a unique position to put stewardship of our wild game to practice by collecting samples of these abnormal animals and getting the raw samples to people with the abilities to investigate the causes of this fascinating, but alarming, developmental defect. I’ve collected and forwarded samples from more than 330 deer so far to researchers at the University of Guelph (Ontario), Colorado State University, Purdue University and the University of Alaska—Anchorage. I do believe that cryptorchidism threatens our deer population in Alaska.
This bilateral cyptorchid is the widest and overall best that I have taken in 43 years of hunting the Kodiak Archipelago. There was no “ground shrinkage” on this one. Tooth wear indicated an age of about 8.5 years.
Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead, so I was unable to make any photos at the kill site, but considering the luck of the day, that is minor.
In Alaska, one must remove all usable meat before or at the same time as the trophy is taken from the field. On Kodiak, any material left overnight will be visited by bears. A second trip is not an option.
This buck was huge in body size. I estimated its live body weight at about 270 pounds.
Loaded on the packboard, its four quarters, backstraps, neck, tenderloins and ribs were about 80 pounds. I was able to cut across some of the peninsula to reduce my return to about 2.5 miles, which took about two hours, arriving at our rendezvous point just before dark. A great day!
So, once again, I was reminded that just behind the next bush or around the far bend may appear an animal of a lifetime. Once again, walking the extra mile paid off.
Oh, I may check that area out again in the future.
[Editor’s Note: To learn more about Jake Jacobson’s experience with cyptorchid bucks, read his previous hunt report titled, An Outstanding Sitka Blacktail “Cactus Buck.” Jacobson has also co-authored a peer reviewed paper on cryptorchidism, which can be read here. In 2010, Jacobson will once again conduct transported hunts for Sitka deer through his outfit, Arctic Rivers Guide & Booking Service. Jacobson also made two hunt donations to the NRA for auction at the NRA Annual Meetings in Phoenix, Ariz., last May. He has been an NRA Life Member since 1976 and recently became an Endowment Life Member. ]
Contact Information:
J.P. “Jake” Jacobson
Alaska Master Guide #54
Arctic Rivers Guide & Booking Service
P.O. Box 1313
Kodiak, AK 99615
(907) 486-5253
huntfish@ak.net
www.huntfish.us/
