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It's the middle of the first week of deer season as I begin writing this week's column, and so far, I've yet to fire a shot this season. I'm hoping to remedy that situation by the time these words are printed.
I'm hopeful to find a nice buck but would also be willing to fill my doe tag and put some venison in the freezer. Although I've bagged my share of bucks during my hunting career, I have never been bitten by the trophy bug and the desire to hold out for a monster-racked deer.
That would be little more than a pipe dream because where I usually hunt is not the kind of habitat that produces tremendous antlers. But like most deer hunters, I have a special fascination with deer antlers.
To understand the remarkable nature of antlers, it is fitting to describe the structural difference between horns and antlers. In North America, we have multiple species of big-game animals that carry either horns or antlers. Pronghorn antelopes, sheep, goats and bison have horns, while members of the deer family, which includes whitetail and mule deer, elk, moose and caribou, sport antlers.
Horns are composed of a bony core surrounded by a heavy outer layer of keratin, the same material human fingernails are made from. Antlers grow as living bone and when mature turn to hard, dead bone. Horns grow from the base, while antlers grow from the tip. Antlers are shed and regrown each year; horns are not.
Individual antlers grow from special attachment points on the animal's skull known as pedicles. Antler growth begins in spring as the growing antler is covered with a vascular skin called velvet, which brings oxygen and nutrients to the bone tissue underneath. Antlers is one of the fastest-growing animal tissues known, growing as much as an inch a day in some specimens.
One the antlers have reached full size, typically around early September, the velvet falls off and the underlying bone dies and hardens into the mature antler. Overall antler size varies from animal to animal and is dependent on factors such as age, nutrition and genetics. Deer will shed their antlers from December through March after the conclusion of the breeding season. The length of daylight, known as photoperiod, is the primary factor controlling the growth and shedding of antlers.
Only male members of the deer family bear antlers with the exception of caribou. Both male and female caribou grow antlers. Male caribou generally bear large, massive antlers, and females will have smaller, more slender antlers. Male caribou, however, shed their antlers in the fall shortly after the breeding season, while the females retain their headgear through the winter.
Interestingly, I was watching a Christmas-themed TV movie last weekend in which one of the characters made the pronouncement that all of Santa's reindeer were females. Her reasoning was only female reindeer have antlers in the wintertime and every depiction of Santa's sleigh is with antlered reindeer, they indeed must be females.
Reindeer, of course, are simply domesticated caribou, so her logic and deduction were spot on and a notable example of real-world facts supporting folklore.
In rare instances, some female deer do grow antlers. Increased testosterone levels or other hormonal imbalances can cause this freak occurrence. Rare genetic defects can cause a female deer to grow small antlers directly from the skull plate and not from a pedicle. Such defects are permanent and not shed like normal antlers. Estimates are only about one in 20,000 females will exhibit this defect.
Male deer primarily use antlers as part of their breeding rituals. First, as weapons in sparring matches with rival males for access to potential mates. Most of those bouts are short encounters that establish dominance. Others can be more aggressive and result in varying degrees of physical injury to one or both combatants. One the breeding hierarchy has been settled, females are thought to be attracted the males with more impressive antlers. Some research has indicated that moose use their antlers as a type of hearing aid. Their wide, flattened antlers apparently act as a type of parabolic reflector.
Humans have undoubtedly been using deer antlers for various purposes since the first prehistoric hunter managed to bring down the first antlered animal. Because of its hardness, strength and durability, antlers can be used to make tools, weapons and ornaments.
Modern day hunters keep antlers as trophies or decorations to commemorate successful hunts. Organizations like the Boone and Crockett Club, Safari Club International and others have devised intricate scoring system to measure antlers and to keep official records of the top-scoring animals taken each year.