Managing Antler Size

By MARVIN PIRILA

In most areas where Whitetails are found, a bucks antlers are fully grown and hardened by September. The velvet that carried through the growth of the antlers begins to dry and peel away soon thereafter. The diminished daylight that comes with October stimulates hormone production and the neck of the buck begins to swell with the increased blood supply resulting in bulging and hardening muscles needed for battle. The rutting fever usually peaks in November and starts to subside in December. This is the time chosen by states for their official firearms season.

Bucks may cross paths while trailing the same doe. If they are fairly matched a fight is likely to ensue. With heads lowered they meet each other in a contest of strength, balance, and shoving ability. The goal is to push the other over and wait for the opportunity to dip under the others guard with a goring or slashing lunge. Once in a while a spike buck beats the older racked buck by stabbing his straight, slender horns between their horns. However, most of the time, after a close fight has lasted minutes or as much as an hour with brief rests between desperate rounds, one buck breaks away and quits the area. The winner returns to his pursuit of the doe.

Deaths are rare during fights but they have occurred when a buck is fatally gored or trampled. Even more rarely, rival bucks will lock antlers and become unable to get untangled.

Soon after the rut, the buck will shed his antlers. The process starts over again in the spring when he begins to grow new ones, usually in May. The velvet covering of the growing antlers is a membrane of modified skin, laced with veins to nourish them and covered with short, bristly hairs.

Newborn bucks at 4-6 months of age begin to grow antlers from the base, known also as the pedicle (the two circular areas that grow antlers from a bucks skull). Buck fawns grow two small bump-like antlers, or “buttons”, their first year and will grow their first true set of antlers during the following spring and summer. The second rack will be bigger than the first, and with sufficient nutrition, each set of antlers will grow even larger until the buck passes his prime (usually 5-7 years old). Pedicle diameter also increases with age, with new bone grown annually in concentric layers. Older bucks typically cast their antlers before young bucks, and immature or unhealthy bucks may not shed their antlers until early spring (March-April).

Deer Antler growth usually begins during the month of March or April and by August or early September, antlers are fully-grown. In most cases the typical deer antlers begin by growing out of the head in a backward motion, then quickly changes direction and sweeps forward.

The antlers of the buck are the coveted trophy of hunters. The most prized trophy is the non-typical rack. Non-typical antlers result from congenital oddities or the result of an injury during growth. Sometimes these antlers become very large, assume odd asymmetrical shapes, and may sprout tines like thorns.

In rare instances, female white-tailed deer (one in several thousand) may grow antlers generally as the result of abnormally high levels of testosterone in the doe’s body.

Spring/Summer -In response to changes in the amount of daily exposure to sun (photoperiod), growth hormones from the pituitary gland trigger the release of Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF), which stimulates antler growth. During this time, the soft growing antler is covered with hairy skin, called “velvet”. When antlers are in the velvet stage they are full of thousands of blood vessels, cartilage and nervous tissue. Growth of antlers is very rapid, and Whitetail Bucks are capable of growing nearly inch of antler per day. The development process can vary greatly depending upon the genes and nutrition of each deer. During development, the deers antlers are very delicate and extremely sensitive to the touch. This is also the time when most antler damage or breakage occurs.

What determines how the antlers will look?

Age is the primary factor that determines exactly how big antlers will grow. Antler mass and length increases with age until bucks reach 6 to 7 years of age. In bucks 7 years old and older, antlers mass often increases, while overall length of the main beam and tines decline with each consecutive set of antlers.

Maximum antler growth is achieved by a diet rich in protein, energy, calcium, phosphorus and vitamins A & D. Adequate nutrition in the months of February and March is especially important, because deer need to replace body fat and muscle lost during winter before antler growth can reach its potential. Harsh winters of combined deep snow and extreme cold temperatures, can lead to decreased antler growth in the season that follows. Dietary protein and energy restrictions will decrease antler volume, beam diameter, main beam length, and total number of antler points grown. Maximum antler development can occur when dietary calcium and phosphorus concentrations are at least 0.45% and 0.30% (dry matter basis), respectively. The dietary needs are one reason that well-managed game preserves have bucks with outstanding antlers year after year.

The body growth and maintenance (physical condition, injury, weight, etc.) of the whitetail deer takes precedence over antler growth. This means that only bucks in good physical condition will reach their full potential antler growth. Injury or damage to the pedicle or velvet may result in the injured antler becoming deformed. An injury to the body can also influence antler growth because energy is used to grow or repair muscle or tissue before it is used to grow antler. Sometimes, a severe injury to the body may result in stunted growth or deformity of the antler opposite side of the body that sustained the injury due to a phenomenon known as bilateral or geo-physical asymmetry.

A buck cannot get all the raw material it needs for rapid antler growth from its food, so the deer must borrow it from within its body. In a process similar to that of osteoporosis in humans, minerals are taken from the ribs, sternum, and skull, and re-deposited in the antlers. This process may decrease bone density by as much as 30%. This helps explain why mature bucks can grow larger antlers. Their skeletal frame becomes larger and literally bigger bucks can store more minerals in their bones. Thats why the big antlered bucks always seem to be the heaviest bucks, because they typically are! Sound habitat management on your property that provides optimal deer nutrition year-round results in the maximum antler size.

Antler Color and Symmetry

Genetic makeup primarily determines antler symmetry.

Antler color depends partly on the amount of oxidized blood left over from velvet shedding and partly on a chemical reaction between the blood and sap from plants on which the antlers are rubbed.

Nearly every hormone and hormone-producing tissue in the deer’s body influences antler growth. The amount of sun exposure directs these hormones to influence antlerogenesis.

-As the length of daylight shortens in the fall and the duration of night is greatest, the light-sensitive portion of the brain (pineal gland) responds by increasing the secretion of the hormone melatonin. This increase begins the production of prolactin and growth hormone. It also causes the hypothalamus to pulsate and begin production of gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH also causes the pituitary to secrete two gonadotrophins, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). LH stimulates the testicular production and secretion of testosterone, which promotes antler hardening and velvet shedding. Prolactin from the pituitary suppresses testosterone in the late winter, triggering antler shedding.

Antler Abnormality

Abnormalities can be caused or influenced by an antler injury, a body injury, genetics or the animal’s age. Pedicle (base) injuries are often the result of a blow to the head and will affect the entire antler. Pedicle injuries cause the base and most or the entire antler to look deformed, while the opposite antler grows normally and shows no sign of an injury. Severe pedicle injuries may even stop antler growth completely.

Main beam injuries occur during the growing season and the degree of abnormality is determined by timing and location of the injury. Antlers with normal bases but deformed growth patterns/shapes and tines are caused by injuries during early growth. Injuries occurring later in growth affect less of the antler’s “normal” shape unless the injury is low on the main beam. Injuries to main beams and tines are expressed only during the current year. The buck’s next set of antlers typically don’t show signs of the injury.

Body injuries caused by disease, vehicles, bullets, arrows, and other unfortunate events can cause abnormal antler growth.

– Injuries to a front limb (foot, leg, shoulder) may affect the antler on the injured side, opposite side or both sides, but the antler on the injured side is typically most affected.

– Hind limb injuries usually affect the opposite antler.

– Body injuries can affect antler growth on both sides and may cause the antlers to stop growing entirely. Depending on location and severity of the injury, the abnormality may occur on just the current set of antlers or it may be carried throughout life. For example, a buck that sustains minor injuries to his right rear leg from a vehicle collision may have an abnormal left antler for one season. Another buck that loses his right rear foot to a bullet may have an abnormal left antler for the rest of his life.

Loss of Velvet

The buck sheds or rubs off the velvet as he rubs saplings or trees with his antlers. Older bucks will shed their velvet before younger bucks.

Answers to Poor Nutrition

There are only two possible solutions to poor nutrition. One is to reduce deer numbers to more closely match the capacity of the natural habitat. The other is to improve the habitat by cutting, burning, planting or fertilizing to restore the lands capacity to support healthy deer. Deer hunting preserves closely monitor the health of its deer herd and do what they need to do to ensure their best health.

Corn is a poor quality food for deer except during periods of high-energy drain during cold periods of the year. It is high in carbohydrates but low in protein (about 8 percent).

It has also been able to demonstrate that there is little relationship between the first year antlers and the antler development a buck will have when he reaches the mature age classes of 5 years or older. This means a spike-antlered buck has a good chance of becoming a trophy-quality adult buck. By the time a buck has completed his second set of antlers he still only has achieved only 25-35 percent of his potential antler development.

It is not until 5 years of age that most bucks approach their full antler potential, and often, antlers dont reach their maximum size until 7 or 8 years of age (for captive deer raised under ideal conditions).

Hunting for Antlers

Bucks shed their antlers between January and April, depending on the latitude and animal. The rutting season is over and a buck can carry-on without antlers at this time of year because they do not need to fight-off other bucks for territory and does.

Deer antlers differ from the hollow horns of cattle in that they comprise solid bone tissue with a honeycombed structure.

Hunting for shed deer antlers has become a big event in recent years. Some want to find shed deer antlers to make various items, such as lamps. Shed antlers allow some to rough-score the bucks to get a good idea of current and future quality. In addition, finding a particular bucks antlers can let you know if hes made it through the winter or if hes still in the area. Also, finding numerous shed antlers over years on a particular piece of property allows you to gain knowledge regarding the areas that bucks are frequenting.

Look for shed antlers in winter food sources, bedding areas, and along trails in between these two areas. These are the best locations, but timing is of the greatest importance. Start too early and youll find nothing. Starting too late means antlers will be partially or entirely eaten by small mammals and other rodents. Of course, antler drop varies by region and even likely even within parts of your state. Keep a close eye on the deer herd or use your game camera to find out when bucks are losing their antlers.

About the Author: Marvin Pirila is the content writing specialist/copywriter for Fishing Webmaster LLC and its sites, including

wisconsinhuntingpreserve.com

.

outdoor-ventures.com

Wisconsin Hunting Preserve specializes in successful whitetail and elk hunts.

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