Do Deer Antlers Grow Back if Cut Off?

Cutting antlers on deer is a process called de-antlering and is done to protect deer from injury and to sometimes aid in the process of record keeping for a deer farm. Some use deer antlers while in velvet as a medicine, but this type of cutting can injure and harm the deer.  There is a specific way to cut antlers and a specific time to do so where the deer has the least chance of being harmed.

Cutting antlers will let them grow back every year.

Why Cut Deer Antlers?

Antlers are cut for many reasons. For those that raise deer, cutting antlers can help minimize the losses taken each year from bucks fighting with one another. Cutting back the antlers each year can keep those losses to a minimum.

Deer farmers have learned that just by taking the simple step of cutting back antler growth, it can help disarm potentially devastating results from bucks trying to assert dominance. Another reason to cut antlers is so that there is an easier way to keep antler growth records because you are able to match up the antlers with the bucks without having to go and locate them in the farm pasture. It is a way to do management and marketing for the farm without having to match DNA between them.

Both of these reasons are typically used for cutting back antlers in a deer raising setting and for those with pasture deer. Lastly, some deer antlers are cut while still in velvet for medicinal purposes. This process can hurt the deer.

Medicinal velvet supplements “contains multiple substances including the female sex hormones estrone and estradiol. It also contains substances which may help cells grow and function”, according to RxList.

Does Cutting Antlers Hurt the Deer?

Cutting antlers can cause pain, health complications, shock and fear to the deer if there are not proper cutting techniques used. Cutting during velvet season will give a heightened period of these complications. Cutting dry antlers can lessen the complications when you use proper techniques such as tranquilizers, clean cutting tools, and a little TLC.

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