My daughters and I make shed hunting a family experience.

Although my two little girls still have no clue that all of the antlers they've "found" were actually artificially placed, the well-spent time in the woods is a way to introduce them to hunting. Recently, when I asked if they liked looking for Easter eggs or antler sheds better, both agreed that finding shed antlers was cooler.

Without a doubt, each and every antler you find is a unique treasure that brings wonderment and speculation, such as: Is the buck still alive? Is he 21⁄2 or 31⁄2 years old? Does he still hang out in these woods? Will he be the dominant buck next year? Questions like these are exciting, but exactly what do you know about antlers and the shedding process?

Just like my daughters, primitive man gave respect and reverence to the antlers and deer he hunted. Bowhunter Magazine Conservation Editor Dr. Dave Samuel explains it best in his book, Know Hunting. "The best hunters would breed more; they (and their families) would eat more protein and hence survive better. In other words, the best hunters, and the hunters who killed the biggest animals (i.e., trophy hunters), would survive and would evolve."

Antihunters (and even some hunters) claim too many hunters focus only on trophy animals (big antlers). They argue that hunters kill off all the best animals and, by taking out all the top-end bucks, are reducing the genetic vigor of the herd. Let me make this point perfectly clear: Within all the biological studies on whitetail breeding dynamics and genetics, no proof exists to support this assertion.

A common question hunters ask is, "What causes an antler to drop?" Deer researcher John Ozoga found that providing bucks supplemental feed will delay their antler drop by more than a month from late December to mid-February. In fact, providing supplemental feed caused some bucks to carry their antlers into March. Ozoga concluded that nutrition and dominance rank within the herd most likely determine the time a buck will drop his antlers.

Research also has shown that bucks can cast their antlers earlier than normal if they suffer inadequate nutrition entering or following the rut, as well as in a prolonged rut.

Dr. Harry Jacobson at Mississippi State University (MSU) determined the majority of bucks will drop both of their antlers within days of each other, and many times, within days of the same date from year to year. He documented the annual antler drop of 24 bucks in his pen. On average, these bucks varied 4.4 days in annual casting dates, with one buck being 17 days apart. Some believe bucks possess an individual antler cycle that is centered on each buck's birth date.

Another MSU study showed that yearling spike bucks dropped their antlers sooner than yearling forked-antlered bucks. The primary reason for this was probably because the spikes were more nutritionally stressed and thus, shed earlier. This study also showed no relationship between antler mass and time of shedding, which is contrary to other studies that showed that as bucks grow older and gain antler mass, they shed their headgear earlier. Many biologists believe this occurs because many older, dominant bucks use a high amount of energy just to maintain a high dominance rank, especially during the rut.