Can Injuries Influence Antler Development?
Filed under: Ask Grant, Deer Biology
I watched the video of the hunt in eastern Kansas and you talked about how injuries affect antler growth (GDTV 48). I live where an 18 point buck was taken just a week or so ago. Both brow tines are forked and at the base of the right antler he had a single horn growing along with the main beam. Could you explain how the injuries affect the antlers? David (Mississippi)
David,
Injuries that occur behind a deer’s shoulders commonly cause the opposite side of a deer’s antlers to develop in a non-typical configuration. Injuries that occur from the front shoulders forward will often cause the antlers on the same side as the injury to develop in a non-typical configuration. Not all injuries result in a buck producing a non-typical set of antlers.
Some non-typical antlers are simply a function of that buck’s genetic make-up. Bucks tend to develop non-typical racks as they mature. So there can be several reasons for a buck to have a non-typical antler configuration.
Growing Deer together,
Grant
