Antler Color

I've always liked the dark antlered bucks. Anyone have any ideas on what makes one antler darker than another?

Iv always herd its from blood stain and time of progression when they start scraping it off...

Or I guess what type of tree they are choosing to rub on...

Going to get a lot of different theories on this one. Some will say it is genetics. Some will say it is from the type of tree or brush they rub on when shedding the velvet. Some will say it is from the type of feed/mineral they eat. Some will say it is due to age, older bucks have darker antlers. Some will say it is the location they live in-more cover vs canopy to allow sunlight to bleach the antlers lighter in color. Some will say it is from the blood stain. Some will say it is from an older buck not rubbing his antlers much all to shed the velvet, this allows the blood to stain better. I have seen same age bucks in breeding pens all eating the same feed and rubbing on the same trees/brush or lack of any that will have different colored antlers. The only difference they might have is genetics. I have seen white colored and darker colored antlers in Western Kansas. I have seen very dark antlers and lighter colored antlers in South Texas in the same herd. If sunlight bleached out anlters then the deer in heavier canopy should have very dark antlers, but they don't always have darker antlers in heavier canopy.

I always figured it was from different levels or different types of nutrients like yard eggs having darker yolks than store-bought

I have always heard the very white antlers means they are jacked up on protien.

But I win

And your prize is in the mail...

I have always wondered that. I have both types on my place. I have no idea what it is, but have to assume genetics since I have both.

Anybody even seen color change through the years on the same buck?

That's a great question and I don't believe I've noticed much difference in a single deer from year to year.

Hey, if we didnt have anecdotal evidence, we wouldnt have anything to talk about around here. How could we possibly have pissing contests if there were absolutes when it comes to deer attactants, human piss, direction of the wind, a deers nose that can smell 9 differnt things at once, how high in a tree you have to be and on and on. How many less threads would there be if all this stuff was known without a doubt?

yup

you sir, are a gentleman and a scholar

Yes I have.

They identified differently. That's cool now.

IME it seems most bucks antlers will darken a bit with age. Some will darken a lot.

I was scouting the day before bow season and saw 2 nice 8's together at a feeder. One, bone white, one so dark I couldn't tell he had antlers until after the sun was fully up.

If I could choose there is just something really cool about dark antlers.

I've heard a few different theories like have all been mentioned.

After thinking about what stxranchman said, most young bucks do seem to have lighter colored antlers from what I've observed.

One of the biggest whitetail bucks I've ever seen was in Collingsworth county and had snow white antlers and there wasn't a protein feeder within miles. We had bucks on that place with all different shades of antlers, from white to really dark brown.

Have heard all kinds of theories and figure there are truth to alot of them.

The one about rubbing seems to have some merit to it. A few years ago when we were having all the fires, there were alot of deer coming out of those areas with some very dark antlers, much darker than average for the same areas a year before.

I suspect that it has to do with being a good deer or a bad deer in the deer community.

That would almost seem to correlate to mineral levels? Mineral levels should effect antler as well as plasma makeup.

I have never noticed a change from year to year to be honest, I really never paid attention. I have seen some ares that had a tendency to have darker antler than other areas though. Seems that would give some credence to the type tree pitch being used, or maybe the mineral content of the browse, or a combination of factors??

Couldn't it just be genetics. I've seen deer with light brown coats, darker coats, and even redish ones. Couldn't it be the same for antlers?

I also think it has a lot to do with genetics. I have deer with with light and dark antlers. You can usually tell what they are going to be even before they shed the velvet so to me it has nothing to do with what they may have rubbed on.