Whitetail Deer Antler Growth

Deer antlers are solid bone and are shed and then regrown every year.

Whitetail deer start growing their antlers in March and April and they are finished growing in early September. They shed them between January and March, occasionally as late as April.

During the peak growing season, deer antlers can grow as much as ½ inch per day.

Though genetics does come into play in determining the size of their rack; age, stress, and nutrition also plays a major role in their development.

Most bucks do not reach their full size potential until they are between 5 and ½ to 7 and ½ years of age.

A young buck's energy and nutritional values goes into his growing body rather than into his rack.

Every year that passes, their antlers generally get bigger in size, length, and mass until they reach their maximum growth, then they will start to get smaller in the ensuing years.

As for nutrition, minerals and protein will go a long ways towards helping the development of antler growth.

Supplements should be put out in February to help replenish body fat and muscle loss that occurred during the winter months.

Once a deer is no longer in velvet, then extra protein is no longer needed until the following spring, when the cycle repeats itself.

Injury also plays a role in the size of their antlers, as when whitetail deer are in velvet, their racks are very susceptible to breakage and injury.

If you have seen a buck that had a noticeably smaller antler on just one side, this is due to a hind leg injury.

When a buck suffers a hind leg injury, then the antler on the opposite side will be smaller than the other antler.

Pedicles (sometimes spelled as pedicel) are the base that the antlers grow from. Generally, the larger the pedicle, the larger the rack will be.

Antlers start growing out of the pedicles in a backwards direction, then turn forward, as you can clearly see in the photo of the button buck.

When people refer to bucks as being 2 and ½ years, or 4 and ½ years of age, this is because fawns are born in the spring and by the time it is hunting season, roughly half a year has passed, so they are often referred to as 2 and ½ years old, etc.

Usually it is only the male whitetail deer that grow antlers. However, a hormone imbalance can cause a whitetail doe to grow them, although this is very rare.

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