Hunting Terms - all about Antlers
For this video | blog I just wanted to talk about antlers with you. But first I just wanted to do a quick explanation of what both are.
Horns are when you have a bone that grows underneath a sheath called keratin. Horns NEVER drop off the skull. (but pronghorn are a weird exception. But I will explain that in the horns video | blog later. [Picture 1 of a Big Horn Sheep].
Antlers are bones that will break off and regrow constantly every year. This makes then causes them to have no antler for some time until the next set grows. [Picture 2 of an Elk].
There are 4 main different structures of antlers. Of course, every antler is different per individual animal, but each species has its own normal structure to the species. And also there are more antlered species but here in North American, these are the main 4 that we see.
Elk [Picture 1]
Moose [Picture 2]
Deer [Picture 3 is of a mule deer, deer species still look different between their subspecies]
Caribou [Picture 4]
Each species with its antlers has a special way of measuring them if you want to see just how large your harvest was. But I will explain in another video | blog about how to do that.
When it comes to how the antler is formed, there are two formations that they can be classified under. The first is typical and the second is non-typical.
Typical is when the antlers have formed to their normal patterns for the species as seen here for the measurement of a mule deer/blacktail deer. [Picture 1]
Non-typical is when the antlers have not formed their normal pattern for the species. As seen here in the measurement of a mule deer/blacktail deer. [Picture 2]
Garbage: This is when it looks like a typical antler but has some weird pieces that do not make it normal-looking. But there are maybe one to four of these on the antlers, if there is a lot and the structure looks off then it is non-typical.
What do all 4 have:
Velvet - is the substance on the antlers that protects them while they grow. When the antlers become hard again the deer will then rub the velvet off and it will then expose the newly grown and large antler.
Rub : This is the time of year when after the velvet has finished, and the antler has gotten hard. The deer | elk | moose will then rub the antler onto plants to rub off the velvet. This then leaves the antler | bone as we normally see it.
Growing the antler - When the antler is forming, and the velvet covers the antlers. There are actually blood vessels underneath the velvet, that is what causes the lines in the antlers that you see. When it’s time for the velvet to come off, which is when the antlers become hard, the deer start to rub it off on plants around them. The blood vessels then mix with the plant and cause pigmentation on the antlers. FOr instance, if the antler is being fubbed on manzanita bark, it will create a dark color in the antler. Whereas if the antler is being rubbed on something like birch it will come out lighter.
Cactus antlers : This is when the antler forms on an unusual day. They can form these bumps that are known as cactus antlers or as cactus bucks.
Tine: This is the piece that has forked off, people refer to that as a tine. Or someone may say wow he has great tines. This means that the buck has a nice-sized length in the tines on his antlers.
Main Beam : is the part of the antler that the tines come off of. It is the first growth, the main piece of the antler that things come off grow off of. [see deer structure pictures down below]
Fork : The fork can refer to two different things. It could mean that you have a buck that is very small and only had one tine separated from the main beam, which people call a forkie. But it can also mean just the fact that you may be talking about a certain part of the antler that has forked off nicely. EX: look at the video it will make more sense.
Spike : This is the antler protruding out from the skull only showing one point | tine. This is still the main beam though.
Shed | Drop : This is the time when the antlers have dropped off the animal. This is known as dropping or shedding. It’s the time of year where the antlers drop off where the pedicle meets the antler base. There are actually people that go shed hunting to find the dropped sheds of these animals. But check with the local park/land ranger if you are allowed to take the sheds. I say this because there is actually an area in the next county over that it is against the law for you to take the elk sheds from the national park.
Pedicle : This is the piece where the skull meets the antler base. Now when you come across a big deer, for instance, the reason he has such massive antlers all contributed to the size of the pedicle. When the mother was pregnant with this buck, she must have had good genes to pass down, along with good nutrition in the area to have a healthy fawn. If the mother did not have good nutrition while pregnant, the pedicles on the buck would never grow big, no matter what. The pedicle size is all determined in the womb due to nutrition. [ see pictures below]
Boone & Crockett Structures :
Moose
Palm : Palms are just like on our hands, they are the part that does not have any gaps. There are a lower and an upper palm
