Show us your best shed antler find!
- Thread starter User00047
- Start date
The deer chew them mostly, for the minerals.
It's actually quite important to leave shed antlers in the woods for deer (and other wildlife) to chew at, so only pick up the best ones that you might want to keep.
I bought him as a pricket (but his pricket spikes had been sawn off, so I haven't got those).
The set of antlers nearest the camera in that photo was his sorrel head.
His next head went back due to poorer nutrition.
His 4th head (furthest from camera) is back up to same size as sorrel head, but poor density.
The head that he is about to cast looks much better, but a buck is never going to grow a decent head here due to the very low trace element levels in our soil and forage. The only way to get good antlers would be all-year-round feeding, which I'm not prepared to do.
It’s important to me to have them in my collection instead of mr
getting them!I left some heads up in a tree to rot instead of boiling them out and the squirrels butchered them
even chewed through the string holding them up there.Interesting.
Not worth worrying about antler size if you’re growing them for meat I guess.
Not worth worrying about antler shape, for sure. But a decent size on the antlers would indicate general wellbeing, meaning body weight ought to be half decent too.It’s important to me to have them in my collection instead of mr
I left some heads up in a tree to rot instead of boiling them out and the squirrels butchered them
Interesting.
Not worth worrying about antler size if you’re growing them for meat I guess.
It's a real challenge getting any livestock to thrive here. That's why I have land in Suffolk for my lambs. It's the only way to get them to grow, other than by feeding them the whole time.
Sol
Well-Known Member
Would you be able to supplement the deer by providing natural elements that otherwise would be devoid in your area? Its been well documented whitetail deer chowing down on wolf bones of all things and returning.
I cant imagine your park has much die-off each year maybe its something you should artificially influence with empty carcasses for bone?, since your picking the antlers up?
Ruby Tuesday 2
Well-Known Member
Great find!
Lucky to find its wellies as well as its antlers!
He was wearing these when the bullet hit him!!
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Watched as an older hill buck dropped his pair last 12th October, went and picked them up -
A few years ago a cast roe antler weighing 250gr was found on the estate.
kingstonandy
Well-Known Member
Yes. I am from East Anglia originally, and I started work as a shepherd in Suffolk. So I have maintained my agricultural interests in the area, despite having moved away about 30 years ago.
Believe it or not, it is more cost effective for me to transport lambs from North Wales to Suffolk for 6 months of the year then it is to keep them here.
Similar situation a couple of weeks ago- shot the stag, he ran towards me for 30m, stopped, his antlers fell off then he fell Over
Attachments
Similar threads
