Antlers are fascinating, whether you are a bonafide trophy hunter, casual sportsman, or just someone who love this natural bone-growing phenom. Antlers and the growing process are one of the most fascinating elements of nature. Imagine an elk growing the equivalent of an entire human skeleton in a a few months, have that calcified crown fall off and then repeat the process? This QDMA post lists many intriguing facts about antlers.
It was late March in northern Pennsylvania before the snow had finally receded enough to let me get in the shed hunting game. My kids and I went for the first time on March 25. The first food plot we checked was 90 percent covered in snow, but the second, third and fourth plots were mostly snow free or at least the snow was shallow enough to allow us to see antlers in them. Four plots and two fields later we hadn’t found an antler but we did find some deer bones, some recently excavated woodpecker holes in a red pine, a whole lot of deer scat, and most importantly, some quality family time.
Our stated goal was a shed antler — at least one and hopefully more — because we are captivated by antlers. My family likes to see them, hold them, study them, photograph them, display them, and hunt them. I guess that fascination stems from our ancestors, as some of the earliest art consisted of cave drawings of bucks, or at least antlered animals.
If you’re reading this I’m guessing you like antlers too, so here is some interesting information on them and the factors affecting their growth.
Antlers are the fastest growing true bone in nature.
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