The antler cycle of a white-tail deer is a fascinating part of nature. Deer antlers are one of the fastest-growing tissues known to man and the sight of them rapidly increases the heart rate of any hunter.
About September every year, the velvet covering on the antlers comes off, leaving hard bone that is used during the mating season to intimidate or fight other bucks for breeding rights. Of course, deer hunters are always looking to get a nice rack to hang on the wall, but if they don’t succeed during the hunting season, they can still come into possession of one afterward because the antlers fall off later in winter. If you look in the right places starting about now, you may find a few nice sheds.
So what makes the antlers fall off the head of a buck? The antlers are very strong, and sometimes in fighting other bucks, one or more of the branched horns may break off, but never at the base as occurs during shedding. Shedding relates to the testosterone level of the buck. After the breeding season, the level of this male hormone drops, and a layer of specialized cells at the base of the antlers begins to reabsorb the calcium from them. Eventually, this area becomes grainy and weak, which causes the antlers to fall off.
Some bucks shed their antlers earlier than others. The largest and strongest bucks generally do most of the breeding in a well-balanced herd and thus will drop their racks earlier than the sub-dominant bucks because of their lower testosterone levels. Captive bucks that don’t have a chance to breed usually don’t shed their antlers until a month or two after wild deer in the same area.
A few large-rack bucks are sometimes seen as late as the end of March. How can that be? Well, bucks are individuals just like guys. Some fellows are always chasing women, while most are normal — and some have little interest in the ladies. Studies have shown that some bucks, even though they have big racks and big bodies, just don’t get that involved in the rut for one reason or another. Thus their testosterone level would still be high late into winter.
The buck that has been doing a lot of breeding may even cast his antlers during hunting season. I have seen this on several occasions. A friend of mine once shot a nice buck near the end of the season and when he got to it there was only one antler on the deer. He rolled the deer over and found an antler underneath; it had come off when the deer went down. When the deer was picked up to put in the bed of his truck the other antler came off.
Shed antlers are not often found because there simply are not a lot of bucks in one area and a large amount of ground would have to be searched to find one. They could be dropped in a big open field that is not often searched, or be way back in some thicket where the buck beds. Another reason sheds are not readily found is it doesn’t take long for mice, squirrels, rabbits, porcupines and chipmunks to find them and eat them. They gnaw on the antlers for the calcium and phosphorus, just like your dog does with a bone.
Looking for sheds has become a popular hobby for hunters. Many deer hunters now spend a great deal of time and effort to find them. In the process, they learn where the “surviving” bucks are hanging out, which may be helpful information for the next hunting season. The pursuit may also show the hunter that the big trophy buck is still alive.
You can even train a dog to sniff out sheds for you. Years ago my Lab, Amy, was taught that I was interested in deer antlers and that she would get a treat if she found one for me. I then hid an antler a distance from my cabin and waited a few days to walk her around that area. When she “found” her first one I made a big deal out of it and after that she was always looking. On more than one occasion she brought me an antler while we were out walking in the woods or a field in early spring. Finding a shed was exciting to me generally and even more so when Amy found one and brought it to me.
So if you didn’t get your buck last year, you still have a chance to put a “horn” on the wall. You just have to spend the time searching in the woods and fields in areas where you know deer congregate after hunting season. Early spring is a good time to look, right after the snow is gone and before the critters find them and start eating them.