Question about deer

[NewHopePoultry]

I dont know where else to put this, so sorry if this is the wrong place.

I've always wanted to know:
Does the buck antlers change points or is it always the same? I know that bucks shed their antlers once a year and they grow back. Do they grow back the same way every year or can it change?

 

[whitecra]

From what I understand is that as they get older and bigger they add points to their rack. Now I am not sure how many every year.
Chris

 

[DLS]

They start out as a BUTTON.
then they get a few points & seem to get more points up to yerar 4 or six then the decline till death.. I usully shoot them well before the decline

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I know they start off as buttons and then they get spikes and then they get the points,but I didnt know that by their time they are adults, if the number of points they have stay the same or increase or decrease with age after their prime time.

 

[KingsCalls]

Deer (bucks) drop their antlers inn late winter or early spring. Depending on the quality of food they are getting, a deer can grow antlers anywhere from spikes(one point on each side) to a nice but small set of antlers with 4-6 points.(rarley any larger) Antler size and shape has a lot to do with food quality and genetics. It is true that after a few years, a buck starts to decline and this shows up as smaller or sometimes deformed looking antlers. NO....they do not stay a six point or a spike or whatever their whole life. In early summer the antlers begin to re-grow and are covered in velvet. At this time they are not hardened and blood circulated through them. When the days begin to shorten, testosterone levels in the buck increase and the antlers harden and they rub the velvet off. Antlers no longer have blood flowing through them. After the breeding season the testosterone levels drop and this causes the antlers to fall off. And the cycle starts all over again. (antlers have been known to grow as much as 1 inch per day)

 

[mizauntcathy'shenhouse]

My husband, who knows more about these things than I do, says that they loose them every year and should acquire two points (one for each antler) each season, but nutrition or lack of may keep them from always acquiring the points as they should.

 

[Solace]

Antlers are really interesting. Year to year they keep the basic same configuration sometimes larger sometimes smaller then a decline when older. As others have said the first year some start out as 'buttons' or what are called 'spikes' some can have larger to start. All of this can be attributed to various things genetics, environment, diet and even injury.

 

[bantamman13]

Just like any animal genetics and nutrition determine how large the rack on a buck may become. I have seen fully mature bucks with only single horns or one side be large the other single. Genetics are the biggest factor followed closely by nutrition and their overall enviroment. There is no set rule on how many points a deer will grow back each year they may or may not add points compared to the antlers they shed in the prior season.