Editing Antler (section)

== Exploitation by other species ==

=== Ecological role ===
Discarded antlers represent a source of calcium, phosphorus and other minerals and are often gnawed upon by small animals, including squirrels, porcupines, rabbits and mice. This is more common among animals inhabiting regions where the soil is deficient in these minerals. Antlers shed in oak forest inhabited by squirrels are rapidly chewed to pieces by them.<ref name="FeldhamerMcShea2012"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Dennis Walrod|title=Antlers: A Guide to Collecting, Scoring, Mounting, and Carving|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qu_11ACcw4YC&pg=PA47|year=2010|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-0596-7|page=46}}</ref>

=== Trophy hunting ===
Antlered heads are prized as [[trophy hunting|trophies]] with larger sets being more highly prized.  The first organization to keep records of sizes was [[Rowland Ward]] Ltd., a London [[taxidermy]] firm, in the early 20th century.  For a time only total length or spread was recorded.  In the middle of the century, the [[Boone and Crockett Club]] and the [[Safari Club International]] developed complex scoring systems based on various dimensions and the number of tines or points, and they keep extensive records of high-scoring antlers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=Erwin A. |last2=Bauer |first2=Peggy |year=2000 |title=Antlers: Nature's Majestic Crown |publisher=Voyageur Press |pages=20–1 |isbn=978-1-61060-343-0}}</ref> Deer bred for hunting on farms are selected based on the size of the antlers.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Laskow|first1=Sarah|title=Antler Farm|url=https://medium.com/re-form/antler-farm-dbd3ba1ec3f2|website=[[Medium (service)]]|date=August 27, 2014|access-date=August 28, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903125220/https://medium.com/re-form/antler-farm-dbd3ba1ec3f2|archive-date=September 3, 2014}}</ref>

Hunters have developed terms for antler parts: beam, palm, brow, bez or bay, trez or tray, royal, and surroyal. These are the main shaft, flattened center, first [[Tine (structural)|tine]], second tine, third tine, fourth tine, and fifth or higher tines, respectively.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/questions_answers_deer.html#antlers | title=Wildlifeonline – Questions & Answers – Deer | access-date=March 1, 2012 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115023803/http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/questions_answers_deer.html#antlers | archive-date=January 15, 2012 }}</ref> The second branch is also called an advancer.

In [[Yorkshire]] in the United Kingdom roe deer hunting is especially popular due to the large antlers produced there. This is due to the high levels of chalk in Yorkshire. The chalk is high in calcium which is ingested by the deer and helps growth in the antlers.<ref name="Fieldsports Britain">{{cite web|last=Fieldsports Britain|title=Fieldsports Britain: Grouse on the Glorious Twelfth, roebucks and|date=August 28, 2009 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdmcYQyWWKk&feature |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/xdmcYQyWWKk| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|publisher=fieldsportschannel.tv|access-date=October 30, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Shed antler hunting===
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Gathering shed antlers or "sheds" attracts dedicated practitioners who refer to it colloquially as ''shed hunting'', or ''bone picking''. In the United States, the middle of December to the middle of February is considered shed hunting season, when deer, [[elk]], and moose begin to shed. The North American Shed Hunting Club, founded in 1991, is an organization for those who take part in this activity.<ref name="FeldhamerMcShea2012">{{cite book|author1=George A. Feldhamer|author2=William J. McShea|title=Deer: The Animal Answer Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ePTueMAGXWEC&pg=PA32|date=January 26, 2012|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-1-4214-0387-8|pages=32–}}</ref>

In the United States in 2017 sheds fetch around US$10 per pound, with larger specimens in good condition attracting higher prices. The most desirable antlers have been found soon after being shed. The value is reduced if they have been damaged by weathering or being gnawed by small animals. A matched pair from the same animal is a very desirable find but often antlers are shed separately and may be separated by several miles. Some enthusiasts for shed hunting use trained dogs to assist them.<ref>{{cite book|author=Dennis Walrod|title=Antlers: A Guide to Collecting, Scoring, Mounting, and Carving|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qu_11ACcw4YC&pg=PA47|year=2010|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-0596-7|pages=44–52}}</ref> Most hunters will follow "game trails" (trails where deer frequently run) to find these sheds or they will build a shed trap to collect the loose antlers in the late winter/early spring.

In most US states, the possession of or trade in parts of game animals is subject to some degree of regulation, but the trade in antlers is widely permitted.<ref name="Walrod2010">{{cite book|author=Dennis Walrod|title=Antlers: A Guide to Collecting, Scoring, Mounting, and Carving|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qu_11ACcw4YC&pg=PA47|year=2010|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-0596-7|pages=46–47}}</ref> In the national parks of Canada, the removal of shed antlers is an offense punishable by a maximum fine of C$25,000, as the Canadian government considers antlers to belong to the people of Canada and part of the ecosystems in which they are discarded.<ref>{{cite news |title=Parks Canada reminds visitors you can look, but don't touch |author=Susan Quinlan |url=http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1uowk/PrairiePostWestNovem/resources/3.htm |newspaper=Prairie Post West |date=November 18, 2011 |access-date=December 5, 2011 |page=3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206135357/http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1uowk/PrairiePostWestNovem/resources/3.htm |archive-date=February 6, 2015 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Moose Antlers in Denali National Park.JPG|A shed moose antler in [[Denali National Park and Preserve]], [[Alaska]] (2010)
File:Antlers found shortly after being shed by a deer in Eastern Oklahoma.jpg|Antlers found shortly after being shed by a whitetail deer in eastern [[Oklahoma]]
</gallery>

=== Carving for decorative and tool uses ===
[[File:Wallace CollectionDSCF7493.JPG|thumb|upright|A German [[powder flask]] made from a red deer antler, {{c.|1570}}. [[Wallace Collection]], London (2010)]]

Antler has been used through history as a material to make tools, weapons, ornaments, and toys.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=Erwin A. |last2=Bauer |first2=Peggy |year=2000 |title=Antlers: Nature's Majestic Crown |publisher=Voyageur Press |page=7 |isbn=978-1-61060-343-0}}</ref> It was an especially important material in the European Late [[Paleolithic]], used by the [[Magdalenian]] culture to make carvings and engraved designs on objects such as the so-called [[Bâton de commandement]]s and the ''[[Bison Licking Insect Bite]]''.  In the Viking Age and medieval period, it formed an important raw material in the craft of comb-making. In later periods, antler—used as a cheap substitute for [[ivory]]—was a material especially associated with equipment for [[hunting]], such as saddles and horse harness, guns and daggers, [[powder flask]]s, as well as buttons and the like. The decorative display of wall-mounted pairs of antlers has been popular since medieval times at least.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

The [[Netsilik]], an [[Inuit]] group, made bows and arrows using antler, reinforced with strands of animal tendons braided to form a [[cable-backed bow]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Balikci |first1=Asen |title=The Netsilik Inuit |date=1989 |publisher=Waveland Press |pages=38–39}}</ref> Several [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous American]] tribes also used antler to make bows, gluing tendons to the bow instead of tying them as cables. An antler bow, made in the early 19th century, is on display at [[Brooklyn Museum]]. Its manufacture is attributed to the [[Yankton Sioux]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/63442 |title=Bow, Bow Case, Arrows and Quiver|website=Brooklyn Museum}}</ref>

Through history large deer antler from a suitable species (e.g. [[red deer]]) were often cut down to its shaft and its lowest [[Tine (structural)|tine]] and used as a one-pointed [[pickax]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ingenious.org.uk/See/Tradeandindustry/Handandmachinetools/?target=SeeMedium&ObjectID=%7BB316DA4B-0B90-D31E-C28F-94EC504B8D04%7D&viewby=images |title=Deer-antler pick, used in flint mining from Grimes Graves |access-date=July 6, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308102837/http://www.ingenious.org.uk/See/Tradeandindustry/Handandmachinetools/?target=SeeMedium&ObjectID=%7BB316DA4B-0B90-D31E-C28F-94EC504B8D04%7D&viewby=images |archive-date=March 8, 2012 }}{{full citation needed|date=April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=970747.JPG |url=http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/847/970747.JPG |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725165301/http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/847/970747.JPG |archive-date=July 25, 2011 |publisher=DK Images |access-date=28 December 2022 }}</ref>

=== Ceremonial roles ===
Antler headdresses were worn by [[shaman]]s and other spiritual figures in various cultures, and for dances; 21 antler "frontlets" apparently for wearing on the head, and over 10,000 years old, have been excavated at the English [[Mesolithic]] site of [[Starr Carr]].  Antlers are still worn in traditional dances such as [[Yaqui people|Yaqui]] [[Yaqui music|deer dances]] and carried in the [[Abbots Bromley Horn Dance]].{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

=== Dietary usage ===
In the [[velvet antler]] stage, antlers of elk and deer have been used in Asia as a [[dietary supplement]] or [[Chinese traditional medicine|alternative medicinal substance]] for more than 2,000 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vitaminsinamerica.com/news/velvet.htm|title=Velvet Antler – Research Summary|website=www.vitaminsinamerica.com|access-date=May 1, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018172436/http://www.vitaminsinamerica.com/news/velvet.htm|archive-date=October 18, 2017}}</ref> Recently, deer antler [[extract]] has become popular among Western athletes and [[body builders]] because the extract, with its trace amounts of [[IGF-1]], is believed to help build and repair [[muscle tissue]]; however, one [[double-blind]] study did not find evidence of intended effects.<ref>DiSalvo (September 18, 2015). How to Squeeze Snake Oil from Deer Antlers and Make Millions. [1] forbes.com</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=14669926 |url=http://journals.humankinetics.com/ijsnem-back-issues/IJSNEMVolume13Issue3September/TheEffectsofDeerAntlerVelvetExtractorPowderSupplementationonAerobicPowerErythropoiesisandMuscularStrengthandEnduranceCharacteristics |year=2003 |last1=Sleivert |first1=G |title=The effects of deer antler velvet extract or powder supplementation on aerobic power, erythropoiesis, and muscular strength and endurance characteristics |journal=International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=251–65 |last2=Burke |first2=V |last3=Palmer |first3=C |last4=Walmsley |first4=A |last5=Gerrard |first5=D |last6=Haines |first6=S |last7=Littlejohn |first7=R |doi=10.1123/ijsnem.13.3.251 }}</ref>

Elk, deer, and moose antlers have also become popular forms of dog chews that owners purchase for their pet canines.

=== Shed hunting with dogs ===
Dogs are sometimes used to find shed antlers. The North American Shed Hunting Dog Association (NASHDA)<ref>[https://www.sheddogtrainer.com/ North American Shed Hunting Dog Association]</ref> has resources for people who want to train their dogs to find shed antlers and hold shed dog hunting events.