Antler Sheds

Whitetail bucks shed their antlers mid-winter and then grow new antlers every spring and summer.

I mentioned this deciduous characteristic to Dad one time. He looked at me like I had just fallen off a tater truck.

I assured Dad that this was a well researched phenomenon and explained the stages of shedding the antlers followed by rapid growth and hardening of the horns.

Dad had just one question, "Have you ever seen "shed" antlers lying on the ground anywhere?" Well, the plain truth was that I had not?

All that changed yesterday. While checking my corn feeder at the pond, I found a single small antler lying on the ground under the motorized dispenser. I knew that bucks often shed their horns by accidentally hitting them on the metal legs of deer feeders. I simply have never had the experience of finding one.

Dad, after all these years I finally have a definitive answer to your question: "Yes, I have found antlers lying on the ground!"