100 ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS. 



In December, moose deer cast their horns ; by 

 April, the successors commence to sprout ; by the end 

 of June full form is developed, but not till many weeks 

 later are they denuded of velvet ; when that takes 

 place the horns are perfectly white, but exposure to the 

 atmosphere soon gives them a tawny shade, which 

 deepens with the lapse of time. The cow, of course, 

 never bears these ornaments, but the young bull-calf 

 at one year throws out a brace of knobs an inch in 

 length ; in the second season these are about six inches 

 long ; the third year the antlers increase to nine or 

 ten inches, with a fork. In the fourth season palma- 

 tion is exhibited with several points. From this age 

 there is a gradual increase in the palmation and num- 

 ber of points till the animal attains its greatest vigour, 

 from which period the horns decrease in width and 

 weight, at the same time becoming more elongated. 

 Twenty-three is the greatest number of points I have 

 seen on one head, and the weight of the horns just 

 exceeded seventy pounds. I doubt if larger has ever, 

 of late years, been found. 



The young moose deer, that is, those under five years, 

 frequently do not show their new head-dress till 

 March. Instances have been known still, I have 

 no doubt that such were great exceptions of young 

 males bearing the old horns as late as the calving 



