Do antlers really shrink?

I just had a conversation with a good friend of mine that told me they shrink. I have been hunting all my life and never heard that. Is it true?

 

Yep. That's why there is a 60 day drying period before they can be officially measured

 

Unfortunately yes they do shrink and can shrink quite an amazing amount to be something similar to bone.

 

For an example, on my buck I killed in 2010, he green scored him the next day for a score of 182 5/8. My taxidermist who is an official measurer didn't actually measure everything, but he spot checked most of the measurements and the math and he said our scoring looked spot on. When I took the mount to the classic a few months later, he was officially scored in at 180 0/8".

So from mid November to April, he lost around 2.5 inches.

I gave the measurer at the classic my score sheet and asked him if that much shrinkage was normal, he said yes and that he's seen some shrink much less, and some shrink much more.

 

The bucks i have shot, the antlers seem shrink the second they hit the ground......

 

They do shrink unfortunately but I think there are ways to help that from shrinking too much.

 

I don't have any facts on this subject so don't bash me as this is only from my experiences. The largest percentage of total inches decreased during the 60 day period for me was an season buck I got in Sept '09. He scored 142 2/8 that day, but 60 days later he scored 138 4/8 which I think was around 2.5-3%. On the other hand, the largest percentage of reduction I have recorded on a later season (gun season here in IL or WI begins the weekend prior to Thanksgiving) buck was 1% (123 1/8 day killed, 122 later). The scorer and I both believe that the closer the buck is harvested after velvet sheds the larger percentage of shrinkage. Who knows...this is probably not even true!

 

That sounds scientifical enough for me...I'll allow it