Whitetail antlers are an amazing example of nature's handiwork. They range from tiny needle sharp spikes to awesome typical and nontypical racks.
Antlers develop into every size and shape.
But antler size, growth and irregularities are often misunderstood by many deer hunters. A great deal of misinformation has been passed along by hunters for decades, and a major mistake is commonly made by sportsmen who don't know that antlers are not horns, and horns are not antlers. Antlers are made of dead bone, and are yearly growths that begin emerging from two pedicels on the buck's head in late winter and early spring. Antlers reach full growth in late summer or early fall while still covered with a living, furry tissue called velvet. The velvet is rubbed off in early fall, and each set of hard antlers will have an individual distinctive shape and size before being shed between December and February.