BOB@BBT
02-05-2006, 09:50 AM
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...602030405/1058
Outdoors
ERIC SHARP: Now is the time to hunt for whitetail antlers
February 3, 2006
Several readers have called or sent e-mails recently, asking, "When do whitetail bucks drop their antlers?" The answer: Many already have, and most of the rest will do so by mid-February.
This is the time to start hunting for shed antlers because: a) You can beat other hunters to them; and b) They haven't been chewed up by mice, porcupines and other antler-eating critters.
The nonexistent or light snow cover in southern Michigan could produce one of the best shed-hunting seasons in years. Antlers are especially visible on bare ground or a thin layer of snow, and mild temperatures make searching for them more pleasant.
Most whitetail bucks start growing new antlers in March and April. Unlike the horns on a cow or rhinoceros, which are formed from modified hair cells and remain with the animal for life, deer antlers are made of bone, and bucks grow a new set each year. Whitetail antlers are among the fastest-growing tissues known and can grow a half-inch a day.
The size and number of points on a whitetail buck's antlers aren't as reflective of its age as of its genetics and nutrition. Whitetails in the rich farmlands of southern Michigan tend to grow bigger racks than deer in the northern Lower Peninsula, even though there are a lot more deer in the same amount of land in the south.
Northern deer have to work harder to find food, and when deer spend more calories simply surviving, they have less to put into growing antlers. And the deer that lose their antlers first each spring are often dominant bucks, which expend so much energy fighting and breeding during the fall rut that they are in the poorest condition by spring.
Bucks usually lose both antlers within a few days, but they rarely drop them in the same place. So hunters most often find one antler and start searching an area in a 100-yard radius for the other. It's not unusual to come across one side of a buck's antler set one year and the other side the next year, or even several years later.
Bucks are more secretive than does, spending less time in the open. Good places to find antlers are along trails in woods and thickets, especially trails that lead from bedding areas to feeding areas like cornfields, and in fields at the edge of the woods.
Don't forget metroparks and college campuses, which often attract large deer populations.
Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com. Order his book "Fishing Michigan" for $15.95 at www.freep.com/bookstore or by calling 800-245-5082.
Outdoors
ERIC SHARP: Now is the time to hunt for whitetail antlers
February 3, 2006
Several readers have called or sent e-mails recently, asking, "When do whitetail bucks drop their antlers?" The answer: Many already have, and most of the rest will do so by mid-February.
This is the time to start hunting for shed antlers because: a) You can beat other hunters to them; and b) They haven't been chewed up by mice, porcupines and other antler-eating critters.
The nonexistent or light snow cover in southern Michigan could produce one of the best shed-hunting seasons in years. Antlers are especially visible on bare ground or a thin layer of snow, and mild temperatures make searching for them more pleasant.
Most whitetail bucks start growing new antlers in March and April. Unlike the horns on a cow or rhinoceros, which are formed from modified hair cells and remain with the animal for life, deer antlers are made of bone, and bucks grow a new set each year. Whitetail antlers are among the fastest-growing tissues known and can grow a half-inch a day.
The size and number of points on a whitetail buck's antlers aren't as reflective of its age as of its genetics and nutrition. Whitetails in the rich farmlands of southern Michigan tend to grow bigger racks than deer in the northern Lower Peninsula, even though there are a lot more deer in the same amount of land in the south.
Northern deer have to work harder to find food, and when deer spend more calories simply surviving, they have less to put into growing antlers. And the deer that lose their antlers first each spring are often dominant bucks, which expend so much energy fighting and breeding during the fall rut that they are in the poorest condition by spring.
Bucks usually lose both antlers within a few days, but they rarely drop them in the same place. So hunters most often find one antler and start searching an area in a 100-yard radius for the other. It's not unusual to come across one side of a buck's antler set one year and the other side the next year, or even several years later.
Bucks are more secretive than does, spending less time in the open. Good places to find antlers are along trails in woods and thickets, especially trails that lead from bedding areas to feeding areas like cornfields, and in fields at the edge of the woods.
Don't forget metroparks and college campuses, which often attract large deer populations.
Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com. Order his book "Fishing Michigan" for $15.95 at www.freep.com/bookstore or by calling 800-245-5082.