antlers

Bucks With Broken Antlers: Shoot or Pass?

Jul 31, 2024 Cole Gander

Hunters have long been intrigued by deer antlers, and rightfully so. From the countless hours spent sifting through trail-camera photographs to observing bachelor groups of bucks basking in the summer heat and gorging on lush…

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Deer Antlers Come in Many Colors. This Hunter Wanted to Know Why.

Jun 5, 2024 Dr. Tim Lewis

Hunters have long been intrigued by variation in the color of deer antlers. Archibald Rutledge’s writings immortalized the dark racks of South Carolina’s lowland swamp bucks as unique and special. Others have admired the glistening…

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Wrecked Racks: Deer Photographer Tes Randle Jolly Recalls the Wildest Antlers

Dec 20, 2023 Tes Randle Jolly

NDA member Tes Randle Jolly of Alabama has been photographing whitetails professionally for many years. She’s seen many versions of the noble, “normal,” whitetail buck. She’s also seen the odd and unusual examples that result…

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Why Do Squirrels Gnaw on Shed Antlers?

Mar 22, 2023 Karli Gill

If every buck in your woods and fields drops their antlers every winter, why isn’t the landscape littered with them? Why haven’t you walked a few steps into the trees and found not only this…

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An Unusual Buck Skull Shows Us the Starting Line for Antler Growth

Mar 10, 2021 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Even as we are hunting for and collecting them this winter and spring, new ones are already growing for us to hunt next year – although we’re all hoping to collect some of those new…

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If You Pass a Mature Buck, Will He Grow Bigger Antlers?

Nov 4, 2020 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

You’ve got a 5½-year-old buck standing broadside in your sights, and he’s yours to take home with you if you want him. He’s heavy-bodied, fully mature and carries a large rack of antlers. But as…

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How to Read Shed Antlers for Health and Habitat Clues

Mar 25, 2020 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

There’s a quick way to look at a shed antler and tell whether the buck that dropped it was in good health back in the fall during the rut. No, it’s not mass. It’s not…

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Oh Snap! Which Parts of Deer Antlers Break Most Often?

Feb 26, 2020 Gabe Karns

There are few, if any, wild game animals we know so much about as the white-tailed deer – that’s what makes it surprising when new information comes to light about this species with which we…

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Weird Ways to Find Shed Antlers

Feb 13, 2019 Mark Turner

With shed antler season already underway, many deer hunters are already working on their goal of finding a large number of sheds or locating the antlers from a particular deer. Since I’ve never been particularly…

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Why We Don’t Recommend Antler Traps

Jan 16, 2019 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

It’s the time of year when bucks are beginning to shed their antlers and hunters are beginning to grow impatient to go hunt those shed antlers. And every year as talk of shed hunting begins, we…

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