Deer Antler Growth Cycle??????????????
MathDude
What is the length of the cycle with respect to deer/elk/moose antlers?
I know that deer drop/shed their antlers, but it seems unbelievable that
they do it each year-- I can't understand how Mr. 8x8 mulie can grow such
a rack in the span of a year.
More to it, I don't recall reading of someone finding moose antlers laying
around in the woods. What's the deal? Do all these horned animals-- deer,
elk, moose, caribou, antelope, bighorn sheep-- drop their horns and regrow
them in some cyclical fashion?
Two other questions, just to further underline my ignorance:
When do deer rut? Does the climate have any effect on this?
BTW, I live in California.
Thanks...
=========================================================
Math...@aol.com
Mark Littrell
"I never met a gun I didn't like."
=========================================================
Stuart Smith
MathDude <math...@aol.com> wrote:
>Excuse my ignorance, but I'm wondering:
>
>What is the length of the cycle with respect to deer/elk/moose antlers?
>[snip]
>Do all these horned animals-- deer,elk, moose, caribou, antelope, bighorn sheep
>-- drop their horns and regrow them in some cyclical fashion?
>
>MKL
Mark, there are many factors affecting the annual antler growth cycle
(and I'll leave that discussion to those more qualified than myself),
but yes, I've found several moose sheds as well as elk and deer
antlers. Sheep and antelope have true "horns" instead of antlers and
as far as I know, antelope are the only "horned" animals that annually
shed their horns. You have to find these very soon after shedding
because they deteriorate much faster than antlers.
Hope this "sheds" a little more light on the subject,
S.G. Smith
Emory Lynn
> Excuse my ignorance, but I'm wondering:
>
> What is the length of the cycle with respect to deer/elk/moose antlers?
>
> I know that deer drop/shed their antlers, but it seems unbelievable that
> they do it each year-- I can't understand how Mr. 8x8 mulie can grow such
> a rack in the span of a year.
>
> More to it, I don't recall reading of someone finding moose antlers laying
> around in the woods. What's the deal? Do all these horned animals-- deer,
> elk, moose, caribou, antelope, bighorn sheep-- drop their horns and regrow
> them in some cyclical fashion?
>
> Two other questions, just to further underline my ignorance:
>
> When do deer rut? Does the climate have any effect on this?
>
> BTW, I live in California.
>
> Thanks...
>
> MKL
> math...@aol.com
>
>
> =========================================================
MathDude, it may seem unbelievable but all the antlered animals you
mentioned (deer, elk, moose, caribou) most definitely do completely shed
and regrow their antlers each year. This growth typically starts around
May and is completed around September. Thus, a bull moose that may wind
up with antlers weighing fifty pounds that he grew in about five months.
The other animals you mentioned, (pronghorn) antelope and bighorn sheep
technically don't have antlers. They have horns which are not regrown
each year. I think in the warmer months they grow at the ends and form a
noticible growth ring which distinguishes between the growth from one year
to the next. Total growth is limited by factors like nutrition, genetics,
maturity of animal, and wear or damage to the horns.
Deer rut varies considerably by geographic location. The most common time
for whitetails is probably mid-November. However, I'm familiar with South
Carolina deer that breed in early-October and Alabama deer that breed in
late January. Actually across the U.S., breeding peaks can occur from
September through February. Most of the extremes come from the areas of
milder climates such as the Southeast. In harsher climates,if fawns are
not born in early spring their survival chances go down as winter
arrives. Fawn birth dates aren't nearly as critical in the Southeast and
thus breeding dates vary much more from one general area to another.
John Green
<lyn...@opsmaster.msfc.nasa.gov> writes:
|> In article <429v5f$2...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, MathDude <math...@aol.com>
|> wrote:
|>
|> > Excuse my ignorance, but I'm wondering:
|> > Thanks...
|> >
|> > MKL
|> > math...@aol.com
|> >
|> >
|> > =========================================================
|> MathDude, it may seem unbelievable but all the antlered animals you
|> mentioned (deer, elk, moose, caribou) most definitely do completely shed
|> and regrow their antlers each year. This growth typically starts around
|> May and is completed around September. Thus, a bull moose that may wind
|> up with antlers weighing fifty pounds that he grew in about five months.
|> The other animals you mentioned, (pronghorn) antelope and bighorn sheep
|> technically don't have antlers. They have horns which are not regrown
|> [snip]
Are you sure about pronghorns? I may be sticking my neck out here,
but I seem to !vaguely! remember seeing some nature show years ago
with a pronghorn "bucking" around in the snow in order to throw off
its horns. After succeeding, it had two conical "spikes" left behind.
Intuitively I would have said that they do not loose them, as they are
horns, but this is a really distinct memory.... or perhaps a dream?
Are pronghorns the exception to the "horn rule" ?
________________________________________________________________
John Green jeg...@relay.nswc.navy.mil
NSWCDD Dahlgren, VA <STD DISCLAIMERS APPLY>
jch...@profile.net
<jegreen%rud...@relay.nswc.navy.mil> writes:
[ snip ]
>|> The other animals you mentioned, (pronghorn) antelope and bighorn sheep
>|> technically don't have antlers. They have horns which are not regrown
>|> each year. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>|> [snip]
>
> Are you sure about pronghorns? I may be sticking my neck out here,
> but I seem to !vaguely! remember seeing some nature show years ago
> with a pronghorn "bucking" around in the snow in order to throw off
> its horns. After succeeding, it had two conical "spikes" left behind.
That show was one of Marty Stouffer's "Wild America" segments.
Another segment of "Wild America" examined antler growth, and pointed
out that antlers are the fastest-growing tissue yet discovered. The
episode stated that one can literally watch antlers grow (assuming you
find a cooperative deer), and that visible growth in excess of an inch
per day was not unusual.
-John Chase-
Warren Eastland
>In article <lynnee-0709...@128.158.216.146>, Emory Lynn
> <lyn...@opsmaster.msfc.nasa.gov> writes:
>|> In article <429v5f$2...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, MathDude <math...@aol.com>
>|> wrote:
>|>
>|> > Excuse my ignorance, but I'm wondering:
>|> > [Snip]
>|> MathDude,<snip>
>|> The other animals you mentioned, (pronghorn) antelope and bighorn sheep
>|> technically don't have antlers. They have horns which are not regrown
>|> each year. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>|> [snip]
>
> Are you sure about pronghorns?
> <snip>
> Are pronghorns the exception to the "horn rule" ?
>
> John Green
>
Deer, elk, and other cervid antlers fall off in mid- to late- winter when
testosterone levels fall off after the rut and some of the bone at the
pedicel (the chunk of skull immediately below the burr or the antler) is
resorbed. The joint between the antler and the pedicel is weakened to
the point that the antler sort of breaks off. Often, a bull (buck, stag,
etc.) will lose one antler then kick with a hindfoot at the other until
he knocks it off and he's back in balance. Antler quality is
determined by the amount of calcium (among other things) in the spring
browse, so as range quality deteriorates, so does the antler quality.
Horns of mountain sheep (and goats) grow from the base, not the end. I
believe (it's been awhile since I perused my animal physiology books)
that mountain sheep horns are made of keratin, as are the hooves.
Perhaps the Elitist will enlighten us on this. Anyway, they cover a bony
core.
Antelope horns also grow over a bony core, but are made of compacted hair
(kind of like rhino horn) and are shed yearly. Unlike antlers and sheep
horns, though, they grow from the inside out. Once enough new horn
material is produced, it breaks open the old horn sheath which then falls
off. Usually this happens in about February.
I hope this helps confuse the issue:-).
=================================================================
| Warren Eastland | One does not hunt in |
| Ph.D. Ecologist & Hunter | order to kill; on the |
| Mountain & Plains, Field & Forest | contrary, one kills in |
| Rifle & Shotgun | order to have hunted. |
| All Game | - Jose Ortega y Gassett |
=================================================================
Chris Fulton
>Antelope horns also grow over a bony core, but are made of compacted hair
>(kind of like rhino horn) and are shed yearly. Unlike antlers and sheep
>horns, though, they grow from the inside out. Once enough new horn
>material is produced, it breaks open the old horn sheath which then falls
>off. Usually this happens in about February.
>
>I hope this helps confuse the issue:-).
I stand corrected -- did not know that pronghorn lose their horns every
year.
Good hunting;
Chris
SWStover1
It might be important to point out that the antelope we are discussing is
the Northamerican pronghorn antelope, which is not really recognized as a
true antelope like they have in africa.
I have heard that the pronghorn is a pretty weird species of animal that
doesnt seem to be like any other deer, goat etc. It has characteristics
of both deer and goat.
I think that antelope in africa, like the springbok (sp?) Are true
antelope, and have bone horns that never shed. The pronghorns "horns" are
made of hairs (like a rhinos?)
Stover.
Bryan Kinkel (DPD)
>In article <429v5f$2...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, MathDude <math...@aol.com>
>wrote:
>
>> Excuse my ignorance, but I'm wondering:
>>
>>
>>
>> More to it, I don't recall reading of someone finding moose antlers laying
>> around in the woods. What's the deal? Do all these horned animals-- deer,
>> elk, moose, caribou, antelope, bighorn sheep-- drop their horns and regrow
>> them in some cyclical fashion?
>>
>>
>> =========================================================
>MathDude, it may seem unbelievable but all the antlered animals you
>mentioned (deer, elk, moose, caribou) most definitely do completely shed
>and regrow their antlers each year. This growth typically starts around
>May and is completed around September. Thus, a bull moose that may wind
>
The white-tailed deer antler growth cycle is approximately 100-120
days. In most parts of the U.S., the growth cycle begins late March
through mid-April. The antlers grow at an exponential rate, i.e. slowly
at first and then rapidly excelerating towards the end. The vast majority
of the growth occurs in June and July. Growth rates during these two
months can approach an inch per day. Other than a few cancerous tumors,
deer antlers are the fastest growing animal material known. By early to
mid August, the antlers have finished growing, and the next 4-6 weeks are
spent mineralizing the antlers (turning them to hardened bone). In most
areas outside of the deep south, bucks shed their velvet in early to mid
September. Contrary to popular belief, bucks do not make rubs (small
saplings bucks rub the bark off of with their antlers) to remove the
velvet. The velvet falls off naturally in a very short period of time -
just a few hours. Buck rubs are made for completely different reasons
(but that's another story). When bucks lose their antlers varies greatly.
The timing of antler drop is correlated to geography, winter climate, and
buck health. Bucks that must contend with severely stressful winter
conditions (extreme cold, deep snow) usually drop their antlers early (late
December). Bucks that have been severely stressed by the rut also tend
to drop their antlers early. Bucks that do not have to contend with severe
winters and that come through the rut in good condition, may hold onto their
antlers until just before the new set begins to grow. I have seen bucks in
Kentucky and Alabama still carrying their antlers the first week of April.
Why don't you find many antlers laying around? One, they are far harder
to see than you would think; and two, rodents rapidly eat them for their
high calcium content.
BTW, before I get flamed, bucks may use branches and sapling to held scrape
off the dying velvet from their antlers, but this does not create the
"classic" buck rub.
--
**************
My opinions are my own, not those of Big Brother ;-)
Bryan Kinkel
bki...@census.gov Go Vols! Die Gators!