Larry Case: Waiting rewards big-buck hunters

A white-tailed deer stands on a ridge overlooking the Missouri River south of Great Falls, Mont. When it comes to bringing home a buck, more and more hunters are interested in big, impressive antler racks, writes outdoors columnist Larry Case — and that's where having a quality deer population counts. A white-tailed deer stands on a ridge overlooking the Missouri River south of Great Falls, Mont. When it comes to bringing home a buck, more and more hunters are interested in big, impressive antler racks, writes outdoors columnist Larry Case — and that's where having a quality deer population counts.

By Larry Case September 8, 2016 5 min read

For those of you who do not pursue white-tailed deer, here’s a news flash.

Many hunters are obsessed with antlers.

I think this has been going on since the first deer hunter took the first buck by means of a throwing a sharp stick. The hunter walked up to his prize, knelt down and grabbed hold of an antler.

The die was cast, the bond was forged. He would spend the rest of his short life looking for more and bigger antlers.

Just so we get our terminology correct here, we may talk about a white-tailed buck having big “horns,” but members of the deer family, Cervids, do not have horns – they have antlers. Antlers are a form of modified bone that goes through a well-documented growing cycle. They form with living tissue, harden and eventually drop off, then the cycle starts all over again.