Mule Deer Antler Answers
Arizona's Rocky Mountain mule deer antler configuration has each side branching equally into two main beams, each may fork into two tines. The size and number of 'points' is dependent on a combination of age, nutrition, and genetic background.
Their antlers grow under a layer of skin called velvet. The velvet supplies blood to the growing antlers, which are soft. When fully grown, the antlers harden, the velvet dries, and is rubbed off. Antlers are composed of material similar to that of bone. Each year in the spring, after the breeding season has passed, antlers are shed.
It is in preparation for the rut that mule deer grow antlers. Bucks are polygamous and fight for a harem of does during the winter breeding season.
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