mtair

anybody have any idea what causes those holes you sometime see in deer horns , ive heard they are caused by injury to them during the velvet phase, ive also heard some kind of fly causes the hole . does anybody know?

shedhead

You are correct when you say that a fly caused it. It is called a bot fly. I believe that the fly lays a egg on the antler when the antler is in velvet and when the worm is born it burrows into the blood rich antler and turns into a cocoon and then hatches into a moth. When the velvet is shed a hole is left in the antler.

James Vee

you're right on shedhead

Smitty_nc1

I just gotta call BS on this one. Who told you that line of crap? The common holes you see in some antlers are caused by injury to the horn while in velvet.

JimboHunter1

In the January 2003 issue of "Deer and Deer Hunting", there's a picture of this, and it says, "Parasites thrive easily on easily accessible food. That's why it's not unusual for a buck's antlers to become the host of warbles (aka Bot Fly) that bore small holes into velvet antlers. These holes are even more evident after the velvet dries and the antler hardens."

Smitty, I think you're wrong.

Smitty_nc1

Ok. I will give into to the parasite theory. But, You gotta admit that Some Holes are caused by injury. Not all are caused by parsites.

Outdoor

I would say it rare that a hole is caused by injury. Most likely a deformity in the rack.

isatarak

I saw a hole in a rack this year that you could stick your finger in but not all the way through. It was obvious in looking at it that it had been injured some way or other. It could be that an injury could leave a place for the flies to lay eggs and the maggots to get started. I've never heard of botflies around here, though.

shedhead

Smitty,

You should read the bottom of your post, because you did learn something new today.

timbercruiser

Ticks can burow in during velvet causing the holes you see.