8 DEER : THEIR HABITS 



in the spring. During the first year the fawn has no 

 horns, but at the commencement of the second year 

 the male puts up two small spikes, and he is called a 

 pricket ; these spike-like horns are shed in the follow- 

 ing spring, and two longer ones appear with a branch 

 immediately ov.er the brow, which is termed the brow 

 antler, and he generally has another small branch 

 antler higher up on the horn which denotes him a 

 " sorel." At the end of the third year the horns are 

 again shed (in the technical phrase for this shedding 

 of the horn, the deer is said to have mew'd) and a pair 

 of larger horns very similar appear, the difference 

 being a larger and heavier beam. The beam is the 

 upright part of the horn from which the branches or 

 antlers diverge, and in most cases at this age, the deer 

 has another point or branch from the top of the horn. 

 He is now a "sore." At the end of another year 

 these four year old antlers are exchanged for a larger 

 pair, which are dissimilar to those of previous years in 

 that they now present a broad palm, that is the top 

 part of the horn flattened out as it were, the front.part 

 being stronger than the back, and the latter generally 

 broken into rude points called " spellers." The horns 

 in this the fifth year may be said to be complete, for 

 although in the two following years they are larger 

 and heavier the general appearance of the horn is the 

 same. It has been said that the age of the buck may 

 be told by the number of points on the horns, but this 

 is only true to a limited extent, as we have seen there 

 is one spike in the second year, a horn with two points 

 in the third year, and one with three in the fourth year. 

 Even this is not to be relied upon, for frequently a 

 buck in the fourth year shows more points with signs 

 of palm, but as a rule the horns are not palmated till 

 the fifth year ; this will distinguish the buck from the 

 sore or sorel. After the fifth year the number of 

 points varies so much that they are not a perfect 

 criterion of the age of a buck, but to a practised eye 

 the Mze of the palm, the brow, and beam antler, with 



