Here black bears are not true hibernators. They will sleep deeply, but they can and will wake in their solitary dens. The mating season of white-tailed deer continues. When it ends the bucks will no longer need their antlers. Rather than become a useless burden the antlers will fall off.
Antlers are rich in calcium and minerals.
On the ground they become food for mice, squirrels, and other rodents who remain active in winter. Plants and animals spend much of the autumn preparing for winter. Rocks, of course, do not. There they sit, appearing the same season after season. Winter brings powerful forces of change, though.