I'm talking about antlers not George Costanza 
How much do antlers actually shrink after a deer is killed?
How much do antlers actually shrink after a deer is killed?
Shrinkage?
- Thread starter 74MOPAR
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All of the bucks I have killed have had their antlers and bodies shrink significantly in the 30 or minutes between when I shot and recovered them.
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
It all depends. Generally it's only a couple inches at most. That's why there's a drying period technically.I'm talking about antlers not George Costanza
Joe2Kool
Well-Known Member
All mine shrink about 50" from the time I pull the trigger to they get to my truck! 
According to who i am texting 
CrossVolle
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Depends on if they took a hot bath before you took em.
It varies a lot but in my experience usually not enough to matter much. An inch would be a lot for all but the biggest racks. Reasonably the bigger the rack the more loss you can expect. When you're talking 200"+ non typical racks with a zillion points and 7" bases then you might see a few inches of shrinkage. But a 120" 8pt probably won't lose enough to measure.
tellico4x4
Well-Known Member
The older I get, the worse it gets.
I guess they shrink because of moisture loss? So if you had one that was close to whatever number you were looking for, would/should you keep it in a high humidity environment during the 60 day period?
