Oh, Deer

By Jeff Berti
When someone mentions the word “deer,” most people start conjuring up visions of a trophy buck with large antlers. Some folks believe that antlers are permanent and that they grow continuously throughout the life of the deer. That simply isn’t true. In fact, many of the “antlerless” deer that you are seeing these days are actually adult bucks that have already lost their antlers.
The fact is, deer antlers are formed and shed each year. This is different from “horned” animals such as cattle and antelope, which retain their horns year-round. Antler growth starts in April and May, when the increase in day length stimulates the pituitary gland in the male deer.
The antlers start out as small buds under a coat of fine hairs. The skin under these hairs has numerous blood vessels which are used to transport calcium, phosphorus and protein to the antlers. The skin covering is commonly referred to as “velvet.”
By late August, antler growth has been completed and testosterone is being produced in increasing amounts. This increase cuts off the supply of blood to the velvet at the base of the antlers. The velvet soon becomes dead skin and begins to fall off, leaving the familiar “bony” rack. Deer also begin rubbing their antlers on small trees to remove the velvet and polish them for the upcoming mating season.
Deer will carry their antlers until late winter when testosterone levels decrease, and mating season comes to an end. Between late December and late February, the antlers loosen and eventually fall off. Well fed bucks tend to carry their antlers longer than poorly fed bucks.
So why don’t these dropped antlers accumulate in the woods? It’s because rodents quickly eat them in order to utilize their minerals. Many people enjoy searching the woods for shed antlers and the antlers they find usually have some gnaw marks on them from mice and squirrels.
The size of a deer’s antlers depends on genetics, nutrition and injuries during the velvet stage. Heredity comes into play early on because there are some bucks that will never develop more than a spike and a few others that will never develop antlers at all.
Nutrition is probably the most important factor for the average buck. North Missouri deer tend to have larger racks than similar aged deer from south Missouri. That’s because north Missouri is more fertile and produces more nutritious food for the deer.
Injury during the velvet stage sometimes results in abnormally shaped antlers with numerous points. One such rack was reported to have 78 points.
Hormonal regulation problems can also create oddities in the deer herd. In addition to antler-less bucks, we also find an antlered doe now and then.
Hopefully you’ve learned a little about the development and growth of deer antlers. The Green Hills Area has ideal conditions for antler growth, and as a result, we see some pretty nice bucks running around.