Horns or Antlers

[Utectok]

I’ve always said Antlers and corrected others who say horns…..except in the highlands the other week the Ghillie and Stalker said horns quite often… I didn’t correct them… lol
I did query one stalker and he said “this is not a democracy I say where we go” ooops lol

 

[Morkai]

Horns tend not to shed and have a bone center with a keratin outer.

Deer have antlers.

 

[Jon P]

Antlers shed , horns are permanent.

 

[Mungo]

Plenty of older stalkers in the Highlands call the things deer have ‘horns’. It’s just a local traditional usage.

 

[shakey jake]

two wrongs dont make it wright

 

[Norfolk Horn]

A bit like sheep have a fleece but in stranger parts of the country they look for a good skin when handling the fleece

 

[TringSaint]

I’ve always said Antlers and corrected others who say horns…..except in the highlands the other week the Ghillie and Stalker said horns quite often… I didn’t correct them… lol
I did query one stalker and he said “this is not a democracy I say where we go” ooops lol

Horns are made of hair (keratin) whereas antlers are bone. Heat up horn and it can be moulded but antler is solid.
Horns aren’t shed and keep growing whereas antlers shed each year but get progressively larger up to a point.

If you look at the horns on lambs you can see their structure is basically hair glued together but with a blood vessel running down the middle.

So I would imagine that it’s a slip of the tongue rather than an acceptance that deer have horns!!

 

[VSS]

Deer have antlers.
Bovids (cows, sheep, goats, antelopes etc) have horns.
Completely different structure, and it's definitely not correct to say "horns" when referring to a deer's headgear.

(But, nevertheless, male deer are generally described as being "in hard horn" once they've stripped their velvet. No idea why this should be).

 

[Freeforester]

I don’t think historically it was ever meant in the biological sense, more a descriptive one, especially by the old hands, remember the descriptive power of much of the Gaelic used by stalkers past was somewhat limited (Meall Mor, Meall Beg, Glas Coire, Coire creag ruadh, big hill, little hill, green Corrie, red Corrie, etc). Harvestable grain hereabouts is still referred to as ‘berries’ by some, no ill intention is ever intended by it, it’s just the colloquial expressions - a ‘fish’ is a salmon, hen or cock!

 

[kenbro]

I know a guy who refers to deer appendage as Handlebars.
Ken.
PS He probably thinks they’re attached to their bullet.

 

[bogtrotter]

Horns in place of antlers just local speak as a previous poster said hard antler is almost always referred to as hard horn .
In some areas Roe kids are referred to as calves, it's not that they don't know the correct terms it's just local speak and harms no one.

 

[Mungo]

Horns in place of antlers just local speak as a previous poster said hard antler is almost always referred to as hard horn .
In some areas Roe kids are referred to as calves, it's not that they don't know the correct terms it's just local speak and harms no one.

The names for juvenile deer seem very variable - fawn, kid, calf, follower etc

 

[Cootmeurer]

Horns are found in a the brass section of a band

If it’s a cervid - they are antlers

 

[JeffreyL]

I’ve always said Antlers and corrected others who say horns…..except in the highlands the other week the Ghillie and Stalker said horns quite often… I didn’t correct them… lol
I did query one stalker and he said “this is not a democracy I say where we go” ooops lol