Common terms used in the deer industry and find out what they mean.
Deer Glossary
Bark: The call of a female deer.
Buck: A male fallow deer.
Bull: A male elk/wapiti.
Calf: The offspring of elk/wapiti.
Crush or squeeze: A padded deer handling cradle, usually hydraulic, for safe handling of deer.
Doe: A female fallow deer.
Draft: To select animals from a larger group, 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: A female red deer.
Hummel: A stag that doesn’t grow antlers.
Plant or hide: The normal behaviour of female deer that involves 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: A yearling stag.
Stag: A 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: A one-year-old deer.
Antler terminology
Bez tyne: The second branch of the antler.
Beam: The central stem of the antler.
Brow tyne: The (first) lowest branch of the antler.
Burr: The 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 and 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.
