Antler color?

[wobblegobble]

Almost all the deer I kill have super white horns...why? I first thought it was a age thing but shot a 6.5 3 years ago and his was mostly white at the top. One of my friends and tndeer member killed a couple in Moore co and the horns were super chocolate....why?

 

[catman529]

Maybe genetics? I think the dark color comes from blood when they shed the velvet. BSK might know why some are different than others

 

[Rackseeker]

The variation in antler color is usually the result of the amount of oxidized blood left over from velvet shedding and the type of plant the deer uses to help shed the velvet. The chemical reaction between the blood and sap present in the tree or bush used to rub the antlers can sometimes lead to color variations. ( Oh by the way, I copied and pasted this from a article I read on the subject. Seems like there should be a little more to it than what the article stated. )

 

[barkscaler]

I always wondered if chocolate horns were the result of the deer laying in like cedar thickets or some other really nasty thicket that doesn't recieve alot of sun,and mostly moving at night.Most of thee bucks I see later in the season on into February and March have really bleached out antlers.Take a set of horns and leave them in the sun and in no time they'll be bleached white.jmo

 

[KENBOB10]

The variation in antler color is usually the result of the amount of oxidized blood left over from velvet shedding and the type of plant the deer uses to help shed the velvet. The chemical reaction between the blood and sap present in the tree or bush used to rub the antlers can sometimes lead to color variations. ( Oh by the way, I copied and pasted this from a article I read on the subject. Seems like there should be a little more to it than what the article stated. )

^This^

 

[gobblegrunt]

I've always wondered the same thing. Just thought it might have something to do with genetics.

 

[TN RDG RNR]

Not fact based but I have always heard that bucks that use pine rubs have a tendency to have darker antlers because the pine sap sticks to the antlers along with most everything else the buck comes in contact with (dirt, barks ect).

 

[Grill-n-man]

I was told a long time ago just what the last couple have said. The darker the horns meant the deer spent most of his time in thickets, generally pines around here, and that kept the sun from bleaching the color out. This I suppose is not "scientific" data but so far the bucks I have killed or seen in or around the thick stuff usually have darker horns than the ones around open hardwoods and fields.

 

[BSK]

Rack color is driven by how much the velvet bleeds when it sheds. If the velvet bleeds a lot, the antlers will be chocolate. If the velvet is totally dead, and doesn't bleed at all, then the rack will be white.

 

[Jmed]

Rack color is driven by how much the velvet bleeds when it sheds. If the velvet bleeds a lot, the antlers will be chocolate. If the velvet is totally dead, and doesn't bleed at all, then the rack will be white.

Beat me to it, in other words, a deer that sheds early (while velvet is still alive) will have a darker rack than a buck that waits till say early october to shed when the velevet is dry and dead.

There is probably a bucket full of environmental factors that dictate when they start rubbing the velvet off...diet, dominance, herd structure, terrain, etc.

 

[wobblegobble]

Here are a couple of my white horn deer

[/img]

[/img]
A couple of super chocolates from a buddy

[/img]

[/img]
It's amazing how different properties differ....but it makes since normally the deer on my place shed the week of the opening of bow season.

 

[Winchester]

Rack color is driven by how much the velvet bleeds when it sheds. If the velvet bleeds a lot, the antlers will be chocolate. If the velvet is totally dead, and doesn't bleed at all, then the rack will be white.

Beat me to it, in other words, a deer that sheds early (while velvet is still alive) will have a darker rack than a buck that waits till say early october to shed when the velevet is dry and dead.

There is probably a bucket full of environmental factors that dictate when they start rubbing the velvet off...diet, dominance, herd structure, terrain, etc.

Right but many deer don't rub the velvet off at all, it simply dries up and falls off. Ive killed a few during Bow season with dried strips of velvet still hanging from their antlers even.
Some are more aggressive and actually try to get the velvet off quicker, which I believe are the ones that bleed more and have darker racks.
Nice deer Wobble, but those aren't really super white racked bucks, many have much whiter racks than those.

 

[BSK]

Rack color is driven by how much the velvet bleeds when it sheds. If the velvet bleeds a lot, the antlers will be chocolate. If the velvet is totally dead, and doesn't bleed at all, then the rack will be white.

Beat me to it, in other words, a deer that sheds early (while velvet is still alive) will have a darker rack than a buck that waits till say early october to shed when the velevet is dry and dead.

There is probably a bucket full of environmental factors that dictate when they start rubbing the velvet off...diet, dominance, herd structure, terrain, etc.

It isn't so much shedding early or late. It is an individual buck's unique biology, and whether he starts to split the velvet before it is totally dead or still alive (has blood-flow). This can occur at any time during the velvet shedding process. Some bucks finish growing their antlers earlier than others. In essence, a buck can shed early yet have no bleeding because his velvet was dead when it began to split. Another buck can shed late but still have a lot of blood-flow in the velvet, hence he ends up with a dark rack.

In addition, this velvet shedding timing appears to be somewhat genetic, in that an individual buck usually sheds velvet when it is alive or dead, the same way his entire life. So a dark racked buck is usually dark every year, while a white-racked buck produces that color antlers after velvet shedding every year.

And one more thing, bucks rarely actually rub their velvet off on a tree. The velvet falls off on its own very quickly (within a few hours). Once it starts to splits, it does so quickly, with most of the velvet falling off in less than half a day. Buck rubs are completely different behavior that has nothing to do with velvet removal.

 

[morgancountry]

One thing I've noticed on the hunting shows on TV, about all the deer they shoot in Saskatchewan have really dark racks. Any environmental factors at all or just the ones previously mentioned?

 

[BSK]

One thing I've noticed on the hunting shows on TV, about all the deer they shoot in Saskatchewan have really dark racks. Any environmental factors at all or just the ones previously mentioned?

Probably a part of their genetic make-up (splitting velvet before it has died).

 

[HuntFish714]

Rack color is driven by how much the velvet bleeds when it sheds. If the velvet bleeds a lot, the antlers will be chocolate. If the velvet is totally dead, and doesn't bleed at all, then the rack will be white.

This is what ive found with muleys along with what they rub it off on sappy saplings vs brush and other trees. Like with elk they mainly rake pines so there dark. Ive shot a few deer in velvet and after a couple days it naturaly falls off leaving pure white bone. On one I took the velvet off and used branches and dirt all over it leaving a perminent medium brown color (to cheap to use polyeurothane products). The velvet has like a clear liquidy substance under it to they may have something to do with it.

 

[BSK]

The problems I have with the idea that rubbing on sappy trees creates darker racks are numerous. First, bucks in pens with absolutely nothing to rub on still display the full spectrum of antler colors, from white to dark chocolate. Another problem I have with this idea is it would require a buck's antlers to change color over time, getting darker as he increases his rubbing activity as the rut approaches. I've not seen one instance of a buck's antler color changing over time, especially getting darker. The only changes I've seen are bleaching of antlers over time (getting lighter), and those changes are minimal over the time-frame of velvet shedding in September to hunter harvest in November or December. Lastly, when bucks rub trees, instead of material building up on the antlers, it actually wears away the antler bone. Where bucks rub the hardest with their antlers (on the inside of the bases), the antlers don't get darker, they get lighter as the outer blood-stained layers of antler bone are worn away, exposing the whiter unstained inner layers of the antlers.

 

[Frank G]

Good question: Interesting we have dark brown, bone white and dark brown with bone white tips. Can't be a differance in the "viddles" they are munching on.