Big Game Photographs Wildlife Photo Art Estes Park, Colorado

Male members of the Deer family (deer.,elk, moose,and caribou) have antlers which are dropped in the late winter and regrown in the spring and summer. They have a velvet appearance as they develop into the hard, polished antlers seen during the fall "rut" when males are battling for breeding rights. The caribou is an exception, in that females also have antlers.The female's antlers are smaller, but are dropped later than themales - thus giving the female and her calf an advantage when competing with the larger males in late winter/spring for the limited food supply. Wild sheep and mountain goats have permanent horns. Male sheep (rams) develop massive, curled horns as they age. The females(ewes) are much smaller. Mountain goats have smaller and more pointed horns. Antelope are distinctive in that they have horns, on which the sheath cover is shed and regrown annually.