The bucks now are in their glory, with hardened crowns that might have just a pair of three-inch long spikes or a wide, thick rack with a dozen or more points. Bauer said the biggest, healthiest bucks have the heaviest antlers and do most of the breeding. It is indeed likely antlers are a badge of health and dominance, used to attract females and to warn off other males. Some experts believe bucks establish their dominance long before the time antlers are fully grown and hardened. Maybe some of those young bucks are too dumb to know their places, or perhaps two well-matched rivals happen to end up courting the same doe.
Some hunters think antlers are defense weapons against predators.
Whatever the purpose of antlers, it is clear hunters love them. That keeps taxidermists in business, and the woods full of hunters on opening day. Write him at 221 Oriskany Plaza, Utica, NY 13501. Observer-Dispatch Outdoors Columnist John Pitarresi has been with the paper full time since 1973 and has been writing the Outdoor Column since 1979. His love of the outdoors was passed onto him from his grandfather, who first took him fishing at age 4 and then shooting and hunting in his early teens.