When hunting for the big bucks, you need to know a few things first. An interesting subject I would like to talk about is Antlers and Antler Growth, and how they are connected to capturing that prize buck.

Once a year, a buck sheds his antlers and soon produces new ones. Starting as early as the middle of March, new antlers will start to take form. Longer, sunny days, and the spring season stimulates hormonal production, beginning the yearly process once again. These outgrowths of the skeletal system compose mainly of calicium, phosphorous, and other minerals, growing from the pedical, atop the skull, and are attached to the base(burr) of the antlers.

Growing antlers are the fastest form of bone growing, and are covered by a soft velvet. The velvet is actually a hair covered membrane, interlaced throughout with blood vessels that transport and deposit the minerals used to build the antlers. These vulnerable antlers continue to grow into September, when the bone finally hardens, and the velvet is rubbed off. While some bucks begin stripping the velvet from their antlers when the blood supply is still active, others may wait until the velvet has completely dried. After the velvet is removed, antlers begin to deteriorate from the effects of sunlight and moisture. Deer will chew on antlers, as will rats, and squirrels.

Nutritional intake plays a huge role in the development of antlers, as does genetics. Once the body has met all of its' nutritional requirements, the antlers take in additional nutrients. Large quantities of food must be available for optimum antler growth. Supplemental planting is of some benefit, but to stay healthy and strong, and produce a nice rack, deer need nutritious forage throughout the year.

To ensure an abundance of quality food for the deer to eat, herd numbers must be kept within the carrying capacity of the land, quite often requiring the harvest of antler-less deer. As the first couple of years tend to be spent taking in nutrients to grow the body, the older bucks that need less, will produce larger racks.

Many factors affect the development of antler growth (nutrition, genetics, age, and herd management), and paying close attention to your hunting grounds can increase your chances of catching a trophy buck more and more each year.