Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Deer provided sustenance to ancient people who hunted them. Today, deer hunters seek more than a meal.

05— You never see anyone take a picture with a nice backstrap. It’s always the antlers.

What is the allure of antlers? Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine editor, Louie Bond, says they tackle the question in November’s cover story; just in time for deer season.

05—We always like to look at deer hunting stories in different ways than other publications might.

While nourishment was their main reason for hunting deer, like modern hunters, ancient peoples also valued the antlers…but for different reasons.

16—Medicine men from back then believed that you could grind up the antlers and use them to cure all sorts of ailments. As writer Mike Cox says, they were sort of the Home Depot raw materials selection of the day as you made knife handles, and scrapers and all sorts of implements and tools out of them.

Louie Bond says she originally intended the story, The Allure of Antlers, as a photo-essay in Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

15—But, then when we began digging into all of the cultural stuff, and Mike Cox is our great historian here at Texas Parks and Wildlife; it was right up his ally. So, he started looking into the cultural references and medicinal aspects, and then we decided there was just too much story here to ignore.

Discover how antlers transitioned from tools to trophies in the November issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.