Don’t let Mother Nature deter you from going to the outdoors

I am hearing that there’s light at the end of the tunnel after the Siberian Express week we have just endured. Monday and Tuesday are supposed to have temperatures in the upper 60s on display.

Whoever coined the phrase “if you don’t like the weather in Oklahoma, just wait a day” must have made a pact with Mother Nature.

Even the snowy weather provides a great opportunity to get the family out of the house and involved in some outdoor fun that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg — plus, it will provide some exercise to boot before things begin to green up.

In this case, I’m talking about searching for shed deer antlers. If you’re like me and several of my hunting buddies, you spend the majority of your time in the woods during the fall each year — and that’s a big mistake.

I’ll be the first person to jump up and say “guilty as charged” when it comes to not spending enough time in the woods during the off-season.

There’s so much more to be learned after deer season with shed hunting.

A relic that has always intrigued and fascinated me is the antler shed. I enjoy getting out and searching for antlers that bucks have shed, and it gives me some idea as to the quality of bucks that survived the hunting season.

Whitetail bucks can begin shedding their antlers as early as December but rarely as late as March.

Some of the spots I like to key in on are areas around late-season food plots, along fence rows, travel corridors and water sources.

In some cases, I’ll even leave up a trail camera or two which aids in letting me know what bucks survived the hunting season.

While it might sound a little strange, there’s not a better time than the present to begin looking for sheds because the longer you wait, the squirrels and rodents will be gnawing on them.

“Antlers are nature’s most remarkable accomplishment,” said Jim Heffelfinger, a writer featured in “The Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters” magazine. “They are the only completely regenerating organ in mammals.”

In adult deer, antler growth begins within a few weeks of losing their last set of antlers. While doing some research concerning deer antlers, I really came to appreciate one of God’s most masterful works of art — and no two are alike.

Heffelfinger noted that members of the deer family range from the 10-pound pudu of South America to the 1,500-pound Alaskan Moose, and the even larger antlers of the extinct Irish elk — a type of giant fallow deer.

“There is one exception to the antler rule in the deer family, and that is the Chinese water deer, which lacks antlers,” Heffelfinger said. “In place of antlers, male Chinese water deer have the large protruding upper canines that are reminiscent of several extinct deer species.”

Whatever the case, deer hunter or not, one can’t help but marvel at these unique cast-offs. For more information, you might consult George and Anthony Bubenik’s book, “Horns, Pronghorns and Antlers,” published in 1990.

Many current designers use deer antlers in lamps, chandeliers, jewelry and knives.

I use them as “rattling horns.” A taxidermy business, Mountain Mike’s Reproductions, tells us, “Find a decent eight- to 10-point, cut off the brow tines and tips of the antlers, then wrap the bases in leather using the tongues from a pair of old, worn out hunting boots.

Securing the antlers together with three feet of paracord gives me plenty of space to work their magic when the rut rolls around next fall. One thing to keep in mind: each set of horns has its own, unique sound. While some might believe it’s a little overboard, I think of it in terms of music and the songs we hear.

Getting out, when the weather permits, helps chase away the winter blues.

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John Kilgore is the former Greenleaf State Park manager. He can be reached by emailing him at jkilgoreoutdoors@yahoo.com.