Antler Growth

skull krazy · Post by **skull krazy** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:42 am

Very well said AGCHAWK, i'm impressed!!!

dahlmer · Post by **dahlmer** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:41 am

I checked out some information from deer farmers to get a feel for antler growth. They claim there is about a 120 day growing period for antler starting from the day the previous years antlers are shed. Based on that I would assume most elk will be done growing antler some time between this middle of this month and early August.

I always thought deer farming must have some value.

skull krazy · Post by **skull krazy** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:59 am

Deer have a "pause period" before they start growing, elk start immediately and grow aproximately an inch a day.
It still blows my mind how much calcium must run through an elks body in such a short amount of time!!

AGCHAWK · Post by **AGCHAWK** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:43 pm

Brett, you are probably correct. As I stated, the time frame between end of growth and velvet rub can vary from animal to animal and region to region. It's all basically a function of how quickly the blood flow to the velvet is restricted and how quickly the antlers respond through solidification.
I would assume that the window could be anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks (I know I stated a few days on my original post. I should attempt to keep from being so restrictive in my comments...LOL).

Skull Krazy, thanks for the nice compliment. I really enjoy this sort of research and spend a lot of time reading these sorts of studies, books, etc.
Hopefully, I do not come across as a "know-it-all" to you all. I just really like these sorts of discussions. Of course, I am wrong as much as the next guy...my memory is not what it used to be!

skull krazy · Post by **skull krazy** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:11 pm

You bet HAWK, i give credit where credit is due

proutdoors · Post by **proutdoors** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:38 pm

I found a dead 360 class bull in late August a few years back that looked like it had been dead a couple of weeks. He was 4 miles from any road, so I believe he was killed by lightning as I couldn't see any obvious cause of death, except he was under a big pine tree. Anyhows, he was still in full velvet and the 'bone' was deteriating from the velvet still being on, in otherwords, his antlers were still soft when he died. I believe they shed their velvet like their antlers, each is a little different time and although usually the age/health of the animal is a factor, some are just different. But, that is not a scientific answer, just one based on many years observing elk/deer in the wild all year long.

I saw a couple of bulls this last weekend that if they aren't done growing soon, they will need a crane to hold their heads up.

The drought hasn't hurt any of the bulls I have been watching this year.

PRO

awholelottabull · Post by **awholelottabull** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:31 pm

2 years ago I called in a 350 class bull that had all kinds of velvet hanging of it. He was rubbing when I interupted him. It was the 10th of September. Pretty late for velvet. Just like Bart said, every bull is a little different.

muledeerrock · Post by **muledeerrock** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:43 pm

growth is over for the most part....Monana had a wet spring and seeing the elk racks look bigger this year then in past