Common terms used in the deer industry and find out what they mean.
Deer Glossary
Bark – the call of a female deer
Buck – male fallow deer
Bull – male elk/wapiti
Calf – the offspring of elk/wapiti
Crush or squeeze – a padded deer handling cradle, usually hydraulic – for safely handling deer
Doe – female fallow deer
Draft – to select animals, such as for mating, sale or slaughter
Fawn – the offspring of red and fallow deer. ‘Calf’ is also used for red deer females, especially in science
Hind – Female red deer
Hummel – a stag that doesn’t grow antlers
Plant or hide – the normal behaviour of female deer involving hiding young fawns while they graze elsewhere
Replacements – Yearling females kept to add to the breeding herd
Rut or roar – the breeding season. March/April in the southern hemisphere. Male deer become aggressive and dangerous at this time and make a distinctive roar
Spiker – yearling stag
Stag – male red deer
Weaner – a weaned deer
Weaning – separating the fawn from the hind. This normally done in March, before the rut, or in May, after the rut
Yearling – one year old deer
Antler terminology
Bez tyne – the second branch of the antler
Beam – central stem of the antler
Brow tyne – the (first) lowest branch of the antler
Burr – bony rim of the pedicle
Button – the bony stub that remains after a stag is velvetted
Casting – the natural shedding of the hard antler in the spring
Cleaning – the rubbing of antlers by stags on trees or posts to remove the velvet ‘skin’ that remains once the antler has hardened
Palm – the characteristic wide flattened end of a fallow antler
Pedicle – the bony protrusion on the skull from which the antler grows
Royals – the uppermost antler tynes
Surroyal – the fourth branch of the antler
Trez tyne – the third branch of the antler
Velvet – the growing antler before it calcifies into bone
Velvetting – the humane removal of velvet
