Color of antlers on deer?

kmaxwell3

Senior Member
Just wondering what makes deer antlers dark or light in color? I have killed them with dark antlers and almost white ones and I shot an 8 pt the other day and his were almost a yellowish color.:huh:
 

Double Drop

Senior Member
I've heard that if a deer rubs a cedars a lot it will make is rack a darker color, but I don't know if that is true.
 

Katera73

Senior Member
I think its what they are eating while they grow or what they are eating before they shed there velvet. I think the blood thats in the velvet is what stains the antler as the velvet drys. All the cam pics that I have of bucks velvet peeling off the antlers are aready dark or as light as they are going to be. They will get lighter do to sunlight bleaching them.
 
Not sure if this is true but the darker they are means their is blood plentiful in them.. When they are very white it means they are close to shedding..? Just what I have heard
 

Natty Bumppo

Senior Member
I have wondered about antler color myself. I've killed some bucks with dark antlers and some very white antlers, all from the same area so I've never understood what makes the difference.
 
1.It has NOTHING to do with rubbing. This is what causes Deer to have colored Antlers. Color is determined by the amount of HEMOGLOBIN supplied to the antlers during growth.

2.Oxidized blood/local plants - antler color depends partly on the amount of oxidized blood left over from velvet shedding and partly on a chemical reaction between the blood and sap from plants on which the antlers are rubbed.
 
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Katera73

Senior Member
Not sure if this is true but the darker they are means their is blood plentiful in them.. When they are very white it means they are close to shedding..? Just what I have heard

There is no blood in the antlers ther is blood in the velvet. Antlers are more like a cartiledge type tissue while they are growing flexible somewhat. When they have a certain amount of Testosterone running thru there bodies the tissue hardens into bone and the velvet drys up and peels off. The blood that surounds the antler while it is hardening is what stains the antler the color. I would say what the buck was eating at the time would make the color. When the bucks Testosterone level drops to a certain level at the end of the season it releases something that eats a away at the burr of the antler then it sheds off the antler.

I watch way to much hunting on TV :D
 

p&y finally

Senior Member
I know that in Kansas we see ALOT of bucks with light colored antlers. Its just my redneck science but I always wondered if its due to the lack of big woods. The more their in direct sunlight, the more its going to bleach the antlers. I know this is true with sheds I've found in open fields vs. ones I've found in the woods.
 

wildlifepro

Banned
re antler staining

where is widlifepro when you need him lol

Folks ,Gadestroyer is correct. Bucks get their first color of staining during the sheding of velvet. There is no blood in antlers??? Dont know what show ketera watches. Blood flows through out the velvet layers of of the antler from pedicile all the way to the tip of each main beam and back through the center or core of the antler. This is called the vein of sinus.Antlers are an extension of the frontal bone at the base of the skull.What flows through out the antler are minerals and proteins. Forming a protein matrix.That first staining that occurs can dry fairly easy. More staining can come from his enviorment. What he rubs or touched while in the woods. Dust in the air.pitch from pine needles etc...yes antlers on bucks in large open areas or plains can get pretty white from direct sunlight.But yea bud you are correct on the staining of a buck antlers after velvet peel.
 
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rigderunner

Senior Member
I think its what they are eating while they grow or what they are eating before they shed there velvet. I think the blood thats in the velvet is what stains the antler as the velvet drys. All the cam pics that I have of bucks velvet peeling off the antlers are aready dark or as light as they are going to be. They will get lighter do to sunlight bleaching them.

I agree with you 100 percent I do not beleive its what kind of tree there rubbin we had a deer up here who for some reason loved to rub on a chain link fence post and his horns sure didnt turn out silver
 

Killdee

Senior Member
Whats odd is the variation in color in bucks on the same property, some are near white, others dark, others yellow.
 
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