Finding ‘shed' antlers (with your dog?)
There are many things you can do during the winter time. There is skiing or sledding down a gentle hill, building a snowman or having a battle with snowballs. As long as you move around outside in the cold and you enjoy it, it is good for you. The clean fresh air and the exercise are some of our great joys about being in the country! But there is another thing you can do by yourself, or you can take your dog along for all the same reasons.
Recently I came across quite an interesting article in the magazine “Conservationist” by the DEC of New York State (see link below). It tells about how a woman is training her Golden Retriever to find antlers. Yes, whitetail deer antlers. Whitetail bucks shed their antlers every year between the end of December and the end of January.
So why are they treasures to hunt for? Well, like any treasure, they are rare and difficult to find, and they are highly valued by animals and people alike! So what is going on here?
Recently I came across quite an interesting article in the magazine “Conservationist” by the DEC of New York State (see link below). It tells about how a woman is training her Golden Retriever to find antlers. Yes, whitetail deer antlers. Whitetail bucks shed their antlers every year between the end of December and the end of January.
So why are they treasures to hunt for? Well, like any treasure, they are rare and difficult to find, and they are highly valued by animals and people alike! So what is going on here?
Whitetail 8 point buck and doe Whitetail bucks grow new antlers each year and they keep them until the end of the breeding season. Then they shed them and start all over again in the spring. The older they get, the bigger the antlers get. So the bigger the ‘rack’ on a buck, the older he is (which means he has survived many breeding and hunting seasons- which means he isn’t stupid). These older and wiser bucks with the largest racks are hard to find when the hunting season begins, and therefore are more highly prized by hunters.
Serious hunters scout their hunting spots well before the season opens, looking for tree 'rubs', scent scrapes, buck scat and frequently used trails and know this all too well. Many can tell you stories of how large bucks they tracked before opening day, vanished after the first gunshot of Opening Morning rang through the landscape, never to be seen for the rest of the season.
Male deer (bucks) grow antlers to impress the female deer (does). Much like the plumage of a peacock or enlarged muscle mass in many species, the males strut their genetic fitness to reproduce. These are known as ‘secondary sexual characteristics’. Of course, as with most horned animals, they are also used to fight with other male deer, to fight for the dominant ‘alpha’ male status to win the chance to breed with any does that are coming into estrus (fertile).
Serious hunters scout their hunting spots well before the season opens, looking for tree 'rubs', scent scrapes, buck scat and frequently used trails and know this all too well. Many can tell you stories of how large bucks they tracked before opening day, vanished after the first gunshot of Opening Morning rang through the landscape, never to be seen for the rest of the season.
Male deer (bucks) grow antlers to impress the female deer (does). Much like the plumage of a peacock or enlarged muscle mass in many species, the males strut their genetic fitness to reproduce. These are known as ‘secondary sexual characteristics’. Of course, as with most horned animals, they are also used to fight with other male deer, to fight for the dominant ‘alpha’ male status to win the chance to breed with any does that are coming into estrus (fertile).
European Red Deer buck
It is mostly the same wherever you look in nature. Whether it is fish, or mammals or birds, males exhibit unique secondary sexual displays (antlers, tusks, horns, plumage, colors, swollen glands, enlarged muscles etc.) to compete for female attention and the opportunity to reproduce.
In the spring - usually in April when the antlers start growing, they are covered with ‘velvet’. The velvet is fed by blood, which is carried in the outer layer. Much like a tree grows larger each year by adding external layers of new growth, so buck antlers get larger each year, but unlike trees, they must start from scratch each year. Velvet is warm with fine ‘hairs’ and a waxy feeling. Deer need both protein and minerals to grow antlers and damages to these growing antlers can lead to asymmetric racks in mature bucks (not prized by hunters). The young male deer (button bucks) appear to have little “buttons” on the top of their skull before they start the growth, which can be very rapid,- i.e. ¼ inch a day.
At the end of summer - when the antler growth ends - bucks will rub the velvet off using small trees. The higher the rub is on the tree and the deeper the gouges in the bark, the bigger the buck is! Hunters scout these ‘rubs’ early in the season to asses the size of the local bucks and plan their hunts.
In the spring - usually in April when the antlers start growing, they are covered with ‘velvet’. The velvet is fed by blood, which is carried in the outer layer. Much like a tree grows larger each year by adding external layers of new growth, so buck antlers get larger each year, but unlike trees, they must start from scratch each year. Velvet is warm with fine ‘hairs’ and a waxy feeling. Deer need both protein and minerals to grow antlers and damages to these growing antlers can lead to asymmetric racks in mature bucks (not prized by hunters). The young male deer (button bucks) appear to have little “buttons” on the top of their skull before they start the growth, which can be very rapid,- i.e. ¼ inch a day.
At the end of summer - when the antler growth ends - bucks will rub the velvet off using small trees. The higher the rub is on the tree and the deeper the gouges in the bark, the bigger the buck is! Hunters scout these ‘rubs’ early in the season to asses the size of the local bucks and plan their hunts.
Well gnawed buck skull So what happens to antlers if they are not picked up and stay in the woods? With all the deer we see running across our highways and on our lawns, one would think that the antlers are littering our landscape! Why are they rare treasures?
Well they are hard to find because animals and people compete for them! Antlers provide an excellent source of nutrients and minerals for small animals. The blood soaked velvet has left a fragrant bouquet of chemicals behind on the now dry bone and everyone in the forest wants to eat. Mice, chipmunks and squirrels get calcium by gnawing on shed antlers and animal bones. They need the calcium and strengthen their teeth by gnawing on bones. Porcupines, foxes, coyotes, bears and domestic dogs will also eat them for essential minerals. In this photo of a skull I found in our woods, you can see how many animals were nourished by this one buck. What was probably a rack comprised of 6 points (tines), has been gnawed down to just four. Close examination of the tines shows the interior nutrient rich bone marrow and at least 3 different size teeth that feasted on them. The two small holes in the forehead are where scent glands emerge which the buck uses to scent mark tree branches around his territory and leave messages of his biological fitness. The thinner and more fragile sinuses and snout of the skull probably were crushed and consumed by foxes, coyotes or domestic dogs.
Well they are hard to find because animals and people compete for them! Antlers provide an excellent source of nutrients and minerals for small animals. The blood soaked velvet has left a fragrant bouquet of chemicals behind on the now dry bone and everyone in the forest wants to eat. Mice, chipmunks and squirrels get calcium by gnawing on shed antlers and animal bones. They need the calcium and strengthen their teeth by gnawing on bones. Porcupines, foxes, coyotes, bears and domestic dogs will also eat them for essential minerals. In this photo of a skull I found in our woods, you can see how many animals were nourished by this one buck. What was probably a rack comprised of 6 points (tines), has been gnawed down to just four. Close examination of the tines shows the interior nutrient rich bone marrow and at least 3 different size teeth that feasted on them. The two small holes in the forehead are where scent glands emerge which the buck uses to scent mark tree branches around his territory and leave messages of his biological fitness. The thinner and more fragile sinuses and snout of the skull probably were crushed and consumed by foxes, coyotes or domestic dogs.
Human hunters are eager to find ‘sheds’ before they are taken by the animals of the forest, as hunting tools. As we discussed above, the bigger the buck, the more likely he will breed. When bucks rattle their racks through the branches or trunks of trees to scrape off their velvet, they are sending sound waves through the forest,, saying ‘This is how big and strong I am, come and challenge me!’ If a hunter can find a shed from a large alpha buck, he becomes that buck.
The next hunting season, he can use this shed to ‘rattle’ in other large bucks who are now big enough to challenge him. It is a call to battle any large buck looking to mate will find irresistible.
Artists and craftsmen prize the sheds as well. They may make tool handles, jewelry, dream catchers or art from them. I've seen larger sheds made into light fixtures or incorporated into folk art furniture!
Here you can see a set of earnings a friend made from cross sections of a European Red deer antler. You can see the rich lattice work of the internal bone marrow that is so sought after by animals. She also made the handle for this hunting knife she gave to me as a gift from the same animal she harvested.
The next hunting season, he can use this shed to ‘rattle’ in other large bucks who are now big enough to challenge him. It is a call to battle any large buck looking to mate will find irresistible.
Artists and craftsmen prize the sheds as well. They may make tool handles, jewelry, dream catchers or art from them. I've seen larger sheds made into light fixtures or incorporated into folk art furniture!
Here you can see a set of earnings a friend made from cross sections of a European Red deer antler. You can see the rich lattice work of the internal bone marrow that is so sought after by animals. She also made the handle for this hunting knife she gave to me as a gift from the same animal she harvested.
So, as you can see, whitetail deer antler sheds can be very important to many different interests. These cast-away ‘bones’ are essential to many lives.
If you have a dog and train it to find shed antlers, it is a great winter activity that makes you and the dog happy.
If you’d like to see more about how she trains her dog to hunt for these very specific woodland treasures, the link is: Horn Hunting: www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/0217consmag4web.pdf.
If you have a dog and train it to find shed antlers, it is a great winter activity that makes you and the dog happy.
If you’d like to see more about how she trains her dog to hunt for these very specific woodland treasures, the link is: Horn Hunting: www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/0217consmag4web.pdf.
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