Deer With Fangs? Rare Whitetail Deer Fang…

A Whitetail Buck . . . With a Fang?

The author recently picked up a European mount from the taxidermist and was surprised to discover that his whitetail skull features a fang!

In mid November 2024, I killed a heavy-racked 5x5 in South Dakota, and I love the number of sticker points on the heavy antler bases. The buck’s body was huge, so I’m sure the deer was at least a 4.5-year-old, perhaps even a 5.5. Recently, I was excited to pick up the European mount from the taxidermist and was surprised to discover that the skull features a fang!

I don’t know how I missed this fact during my nearly 50-year deer hunting career, but apparently a few whitetails have fangs. Who knew?

2024 SD buck with fang closeup — The author’s 2024 South Dakota buck features a single, quarter-inch-long fang on the right side of its upper jaw bone.

Fang Facts

Some online research revealed the following “fang facts”:

Fangs in whitetails are rare. Most experts agree that the prevalence is less than 1 in 100. Some researchers claim the number is only 1 in 10,000.
Whitetail fangs are typically very short. The fang on my South Dakota buck measures a quarter-inch. Most fangs are less than a half-inch, and don't break the deer's gum line.
Fangs occur more often on a buck than a doe.
The occurrence of whitetail deer with fangs varies by region, but due to their rarity, it’s difficult to draw conclusions. Some experts say that Florida whitetails are more prone to have fangs, with a rate of about 4 percent.
Whitetail fangs, because they are so short and don’t break the gum line, aren’t discovered until the head is being prepared for a mount.
Wildlife biologists think that fangs in whitetails are a genetic throwback to their ancestors; those animals likely used their fangs for protection from predators. The deer could have also used fangs for fighting with each other, and because they were omnivores (eating plants and animals).
Other deer species with fangs include the Chinese water deer (below), musk deer, and male muntjac deer. Eventually these upper canines regressed in most subspecies, and whitetails evolved antlers for protection and mating purposes instead.

Chinese deer pic — Some primitive cervids, such as Chinese water deer, still have long, sharp fangs/tusks that modern North American elk possessed eons ago.

When I learned about my South Dakota buck having a fang, I immediately thought of elk with their ivories. Remember, elk are members of the deer family. Elk have two canine teeth, which we call ivories (illustration below).

Art Missouri Dept of Conservation Post on elk ivories — An elk’s thumb-sized ivories are made of the same material as elephant and walrus tusks. Scientists think prehistoric elk used longer, saberlike tusks for fighting. (Illustration courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation.)

I reached out to a few industry friends who have killed far more whitetails than me through the past few decades (across the country), and one said that while he’s never shot a fanged whitetail, he remembers a buddy saying he killed one long ago. My other friend said he’s killed two fanged bucks; those fangs also measured a quarter-inch, but unlike my deer, his bucks each had two fangs, in the same place as you’d find elk ivories.

So there you have it — the next time you shoot a whitetail, especially a buck, check it for fangs!