Bucks starting to shed antlers

By: Glynn Harris

There is a remarkable act of nature
starting to take place any day now. A
few years ago, I was turkey hunting
when I saw something that fascinated
me. As I sat overlooking a food
plot, a deer stepped out 40 yards
or so away followed by a second
and then a third deer. They lingered
just long enough for me to
get a good look at them but no
time to snap a photo.
The interesting thing I noticed
about these three deer,
something I’d never seen before,
was that all three were bucks
that had only recently shed their antlers.
Each of the three had prominent
circles – pedicles – on their heads where
last year’s antlers had grown.
Somewhere back in the woods, there
would have been a prize to find; the
dropped antlers from these three.