Can someone explain this for me?

[wannafish2]

I'm going to ask HSO'ers about something that bewilders me. Call it a pet peeve of mine or whatever.

I am a deer hunter, watch all the TV hunting shows, read magazines and forums, and in every single one of them I see/hear hunters calling deer antlers "HORNS"....Why? Cattle have horns, as do orchestra's...but deer have antlers. Horns are hollow, antlers are solid bone. Most hunters whom I have asked this question tell me it's not a big deal, just to get over it. But, when I see someone who is well respected in the hunting community like a hunting show host, I think it makes the individual look ignorant, and in my opinion it is insulting to a magnificent animal. If you think about it, the reverse is never done, you never hear someone call a cow horn an antler...and you would probably correct them if it did happen, but we just willy nilly call antlers "horns"...can anyone explain that to me?

[RangeFishing]

I believe its kinda of like an accent.....depending on where you're from you say things differently from someone who is from a different area. When I lived in the south I would hear hunters call them horns all the time. Just as a shopping cart was called a buggy and a sunny was a Brim. I believe it to be nothing more then a cultural difference

[Big-Al]

......And a ruffed grouse is called a partridge. The "horns" one bothers me too but I have finally gotten over it. I can't seem to get over the "partridge" one though.

[leech~~]

I believe its kinda of like an accent.....depending on where you're from you say things differently from someone who is from a different area. When I lived in the south I would hear hunters call them horns all the time. Just as a shopping cart was called a buggy and a sunny was a Brim. I believe it to be nothing more then a cultural difference

Kind of like "Nice Rack" Good to say in Deer camp.

Not Down Town!

[tracker x-2]

I am a deer hunter, watch all the TV hunting shows, read magazines and forums, and in every single one of them I see/hear hunters calling deer antlers "HORNS"....Why? Cattle have horns,

Thank You for pointing this out!!! This just erks me every time people say that. I automatically have a new perceptions of there story cuz the just referred to deer antlers as horns. Reminds me of a lazy road hunting neighbor AHHHH it drives me crazy.

[harvey lee]

Simalar to in Mn we call an 8 pointer a 8 pointer. In many western states, it's a 4x4.

Depends on the area you are in or come from.

I have used both terms of antlers and horns but for me, antlers would be the correct way to state the rack.

[Gordie]

Its like every adjustable wrench out there is a Cresent wrench.

A motorcyle is a Bike.

A pipe wrench is a Monkey Wrench.

Rims on a automoblie are wheels

I know what you mean .

Its like someone saying they have to go buy a "Hot Water Heater"my question is why do you need that if you water is already hot you don't need to heat it. Its "Water Heater".

The list can go on and on its to easy to replace words with other words

and besides Horn Porn sounds better than Antler Porn.

[jkcmj]

Why the heck doesn't this site have a like post button like FB! Consider this a "like" of Gordie's post above! Horn Porn!

[hockeybc69]

Quote:

In many western states, it's a 4x4.

Expand on that... in Montana they call an 8 pt,,, a 4 pt...... Goof balls.

And yes, every time I hear "horn" I cringe. Definite pet peave...

[certified jumbo]

it also bothers me.

[bottom-bouncer]

I call them horns! mostly because it bothers some people so much.

[Bear55]

It's called slang, it's not evil and means you no harm, I would just let it go.

[pikestabber]

I call them horns...so do 95% of other hunters. I don't consider myself to be an ignorant person. If this is truly something that bothers so many of you, I think in comparison I must live a relatively stress-free life! To each their own...

[Gordie]

Yep it's just the way things are call it what you will or want .

Wre still after that same dollar. I mean buck. Or is it deer well what ever you wanna call it just have fun doing it

[WalleyeChamp]

Southerners are stupid people.. This is just more evidence! It bothers me too.

[jay83196]

Not sure what kills me more this is an actual topic or that I read this whole forum and replied...I must be bored, I'm gona go watch paint dry now...

[harvey lee]

I guess it really does not matter but, animals do not shed horns, antlers only. Why call it something it is not?

Years ago when I went to Wisc snowmobiling, people there would say they were going Ski Doing yet they did not have a Ski Doo. Maybe had a Polaris.

Hockeybc69, in my trips to Montana, I have never heard a soul call an 8 pointer a 4pt. I have heard them say a 4x4 as there are 4 points on each side. Thant's not to say that some do not use the terminology of 4pt but I would guess that is not the norm. Back to horns or antlers.

[bdafisher]

Horns is shorter to say than antlers, fewer syllables and fewer letters. It's just the path of least resistance.

[Musky Buck]

I know of 0 people that call them antlers, must be 2 syllables vs. horns 1. I hope we're not degrading the deer if so they'll get over it. They're called horns because the antlers are hard as horns come time we can hunt them.

[harvey lee]

One can call them horns but they are not horns. All one needs to do is look up the difference between a horn and a antler. There is a difference.

If some want to call them horns, I really do not care but that does not make them horns.

[Gordie]

Winter is not even half over

[Musky Buck]

lol, I'd say you're the oddball where I come from if you're calling them antlers, maybe if we had more moose or elk or mulies around lol, no doubt how bored are we november 3rd is a long way away and not a day I'm looking way forward to, man 0 wintering herds for the 1st time in my lifetime, scary low deer numbers. Antlers smantlers, there are few antlers wintering in my neck.

[harvey lee]

Antlers

"Antlers are unique to cervids and found mostly on males: only caribou and reindeer have antlers on the females, and these are normally smaller than those of the males. Nevertheless, fertile does from other species of deer have the capacity to produce antlers on occasion, usually due to increased testosterone levels.[5]

Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle. While an antler is growing, it is covered with highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing bone.[6] Antlers are considered one of the most exaggerated cases of male secondary sexual traits in the animal Ransom,[7] and grow faster than any other mammal bones.[8] Growth occurs at the tip, and is initially cartilage, which is mineralized to become bone. Once the antler has achieved its full size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler. In most cases, the bone at the base is destroyed by osteoclasts and the antlers fall off at some point.[6] As a result of their fast growth rate, antlers are considered a handicap since there is an incredible nutritional demand on deer to re-grow antlers annually, and thus can be honest signals of metabolic efficiency and food gathering capability."

Horns

"A goat with spiral hornsA horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn (keratin and other proteins) surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls[citation needed], in the families Antilocapridae (pronghorn) and Bovidae (cattle, goats, antelope etc.). One pair of horns is usual, but two pairs occur in a few wild species and in a few domesticated breeds of sheep. Partial or deformed horns in livestock are called scurs.

Horns usually have a curved or spiral shape, often with ridges or fluting. In many species only males have horns. Horns start to grow soon after birth, and continue to grow throughout the life of the animal (except in pronghorns, which shed the outer layer annually, but retain the bony core). Similar growths on other parts of the body are not usually called horns, but spurs, claws or hoofs, depending on the part of the body on which they occur."

Horns grow from birth and never drop as the antlers will grow and fall off each year.

Maybe your area calls them horns and thats fine Musky but as stated above they are not.

I guess if I am an oddball since I use the correct terminology, then so be it.

[Gordie]

Sorry but all I can think of Kelly's Hero's when I hear or see the word oddball

[Gordie]

Sorry but all I can think of Kelly's Hero's when I hear or see the word oddball