Antlers, Horns and Shed Hunting
It was one of those off-Reecer Creek meetings of the Reecer Creek Rod, Gun, Working Dog & Outdoor Think Tank Benevolent Association – a Friday cup with a couple homeys early in the spring. We were wishing we could send up a copter to locate some of the early horn hunters rumored to be in places they weren’t supposed to be and with vehicles on closed roads in areas open to a shanks mare – walking – search.
Questions on the floor had to do with off-road vehicles (ORVs) ripping across closed public ground and on private ground without permission. We wondered if that wasn’t part of the reason for so many of this spring’s elk issues in the valley, and talked about ethical horn hunting. Somewhere in there, we considered the question of “horn” versus “antler.”
The questions, concerns and excitement over shed antlers extend far beyond Paradise. “Horn hunting” is a big deal for a lot of reasons. Looking for old antlers adds to the pleasure of a hike through deer and elk winter range. Somewhere among any wildlife nut=s prized possessions will be a shed antler with an enthusiastic story about where and when.
In Washington, any naturally cast, or shed, antler you find is yours to keep, and there are plenty of areas to poke around for them legitimately. Most of our public ground has been open to walking and looking throughout the winter. With the exception of preserves and national parks, or on private land where it is prohibited, you are free to hunt cast antlers. The ethics pledge of RCRGWD&OTTBA members, however, requires that we wait until antlers are naturally cast off.
Popular areas here include the L.T. Murray, Quilomene and Whiskey Dick Wildlife Areas, which opened yesterday at 6 a.m. (May 1) to motorized vehicles on open roads. Naturally, it is expected that you will respect the deer, elk and other critters which are still coming out of winter.
Finding antlers can be a challenge of course. John McGowan, the long-time manager of the Oak Creek feeding site west of Naches, describes antler hunting as “tough hunting over miles and miles of rough country – kinda like an adult Easter-egg hunt.”
So what about that question of “horn” versus “antler?” HORNS grow every year and are never shed. They are made of keratin, much like hooves and fingernails. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats grow horns. ANTLERS are bone, grown by the Cervidae – the deer family. They develop, mature and are shed on an annual cycle apparently related to length of daylight and testosterone levels.
Antlers grow as blood‑engorged tissue, protected by velvet – a hairy skin. They may grow three or four inches daily (if we grew bone like that, a broken leg would heal in three days). By late summer, the bone in the antlers is fully developed and hardened and the velvet is rubbed off for the mating season.
Antlers are dropped at the time of lowest testosterone level, mostly from December through February. Those testosterone levels drop because of decreasing activity of the pituitary gland, largely due to winter’s shorter hours of daylight. And, animals which do the most breeding, and therefore use up more testosterone, generally lose their antlers first. Young males, thus, may hang onto their antlers until well into spring. When the testosterone level finally dips sufficiently, a layer of cells at the base of the antlers granulates and the antlers drop away at the pedicel. That granulating process may happen within 24 hours. Casting off the antlers is likely a painless, if somewhat disconcerting, process.
Finding sheds is a huge deal. Check out The North American Shed Hunters Club in Wisconsin, (www.shedantlers.org), for example. You will find their two-day annual meeting, guided shed antler hunts, Doug Coleman’s shed hunting video, the “NASCH Record Book” and prizes for the shed measuring contest. Want to read about getting kids involved? See Robert Loewendick’s Ohio story of getting kids involved at www.backwoodsbound.com/yantlers.html. Wanna know what they’re worth or how to make furniture of fixtures with them? See www.bigantlers.com. Explore the web and you will see that shed antlers are, indeed, a huge deal.
Go walk and look. Enjoy these perfect days afield. Be thoughtful around the wildlife you see.
Welcome to spring in Paradise.
