Posted by elise on April 18, 2005

Q: I have been hunting for antlers for fun

Could you give me some info of where they would drop there antlers? On my latest walks I found a 1 mile area where they where rubbing there antlers on every young or small tree in the area . Why are they doing this ? I did not find any antlers or did not see them but I know they are there. plenty of other signs

Thank you

Annedale_mom

A: Believe it or not, there are many people doing the same thing - it's fun looking, finding and, just being outside. The tree rubs you speak of are from bucks rubbing their antlers LAST fall, not now. Bucks rub their antlers to both remove old velvet (skin covering growing antlers) and establish their presence and virility to other bucks during the rut.

Antlers drop in very random fashion in late winter and early spring, the buck has little or no control over this process. So, the best areas to look for dropped antlers is to look where deer are most numerous and spend most of their time - there is no pat answer to this one. You didn't say where you live but in the East where there is much more undergrowth, finding antlers is probably more difficult due to lots of ground cover. Out West where it is more open, the antlers are likely to be more obvious but the areas to scout are also much more vast.

Good luck in your hunting. You can consider yourself a very good "hunter" if you find any, and you won't have to fire a shot!

John Wiessinger ( April 18, 2005)