antrlope horns

[roscoe]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but do Antelope shed their Horns every year?

 

[Tim McCoy]

What they do is shed the sheath, black part with the prong, each year. The actual horn remains as a much shorter kind of pointy thing you can see. Look for non horned goats with a black cheek patch with two upward protrusions on top of the head.

 

[ssliger]

They drop their sheaths every year. They don't drop like elk and deer. The new horn starts growing under the old horn. Then the old sheath drops off. They are hollow and don't last long, all kinds of little rodents eat them. That's why all the Bucks you see December to summer look small


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[gonhunting247]

Yep they shed the sheath when the new one starts. Only horned animal that does this.

 

[missjordan]

That's pretty neat I didn't even know that

 

[ElkTrout]

I talked with a warden this summer and he said that the sheath is harden hair. So they breakdown rapidly once they are shed. Along with rodents eating them up.


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[ando_31]

I have found a couple sheds over the years. Both sheds were in prairie dog towns early in the year. One was in pretty rough shape. The other was just starting to break apart and you could see the some of the individual hairs at the base of the horn.

 

[okielite]

There is an article in one of the fairly recent Eastmans magazines that discusses this.

 

[micropterus79]

Antlers = bone, horns = hair. Pronghorn antelope are indeed unique because they have true horns (hair) but as mentioned above, that sheath sheds, but it is just the karatin sheath, not the bony structure as in an antler.

 

[roscoe]

so do their horns grow similar characteristics every year like antlered animals, does age affect horn size

 

[Hilltop]

so do their horns grow similar characteristics every year like antlered animals, does age affect horn size

Age/genetics do impact horn size but moisture and nutrition play a huge role on a year to year basis.

 

[OldGuy]

Over the years, I have found many late-season bucks to have loose sheaths and could be pulled-off during the drag to the truck.

 

[Againstthewind]

Age/genetics do impact horn size but moisture and nutrition play a huge role on a year to year basis.

There are a few antelope on protected areas around here that you see year to year, and I agree this year I think the same animals have a little bit different structure to their horns. They seem a little taller in the hook and longer prongs and not as heavy this year so far. No scientific evidence or anything, and they could be totally different animals in the same area, but it seems to be the general trend this year.

 

[shootbrownelk]

They drop their sheaths every year. They don't drop like elk and deer. The new horn starts growing under the old horn. Then the old sheath drops off. They are hollow and don't last long, all kinds of little rodents eat them. That's why all the Bucks you see December to summer look small


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Slinger, I once saw an Angus cow contentedly munching on an antelope horn. So I guess it's not only rodents that eat them. In 30+ years of hunting them, I found maybe 5 of them...they go pretty quickly it seems.

 

[Hilltop]

Slinger, I once saw an Angus cow contentedly munching on an antelope horn. So I guess it's not only rodents that eat them. In 30+ years of hunting them, I found maybe 5 of them...they go pretty quickly it seems.

My dogs have also loved them through the years. Not many things a lab won't chew up though... Guessing many animals like them as a different treat on the prairie.