Trying to ID an antler I've had a long time.

Robert.B

Robert.B

Joined
Apr 17, 2003
Messages
5,283
Hey guys, I been packing for my trip home to the US...and found an old antler I've had like 10 years (person who gave it to me had it 15-20 before that, found in New Zealand), and was wondering if you can make out what its from? I'm thinking its Red but where it was found there are Rusa and Sambar but all the pics of those they only have the 1 tine closes the crown. I had been keeping it with the intention later down the line to cut her up but haven't got around to making anything I'd use it with. I have had plenty of red deer antlers and the problem is, none of them ever looked like this. Heres some pics:

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Thanks guys. :thumbup:
 
Thats red deer. Nice texture and colour btw.

Brian

Edit: The crown is a little unusual for red deer and actually more resembles north american elk/wapiti. My money is still on red however, or possibly a hybrid between the two (which is quite common in NZ deer farms).
 
Thanks for the reply! Its been hard cause anyone that has seen it have trouble so if it is a hybrid I guess that would explain a lot. I emailed US customs about bringing it with me to the US so hopefully they say it wont be a problem, I don't really want to give it up.
 
Ohh... I guess we are misunderstanding each other a little. My bad, transation error. In Sweden where I live, the crown is the very top of the antlers. In some european languages, red deer is called crown deer because of the look of the fully matured stags antlers which can take a form that almost resembles the crown of a king. In your case, the top of the antlers i.e. the top 3 tines, take a form that is a little unusual (but not impossible) for red deer, but very common for elk, hence my guess on a possible hybrid. The texture is, as far as I can see, typical for red.

Brian
 
Howdy Robert. When ya cut it you will be able to tell more. An elk or elk hybrid will have a lot of pith and very little solid antler. Usually about an 1/8th of an inch to 1/4 inch max on the outside and the rest pith. A Red Deer will have some more solid but still not a whole bunch it is after all a cousin of the elk. A Sambar or Axis will be almostly completely solid. Gets complicated when all our deer buddies start interbreeding with all their cousins because these pith/solid rules get bent. On another forum I asked if anyone knew of a test to determine if it was Sambar or not prior to cutting and no one did. Apparently its not too uncommon for some dealers to try and sneak Red Deer off as Sambar. I think I got nailed on this myself a while back. When I cut into the "Sambar" antler it had an almost elk like pith to solid ratio, so Red Deer? All that said I still made some pretty nice knife handles out of that antler. Looking at the pics ya posted I would guess Red Deer, Sambar tends to be a little straighter. Great texture and color.
 
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Thanks a lot for the input guys! If I dont hear back from US customs via email I'll need to give them a call Friday after work...I dont want to be hasty about cutting it up and plan it out so I can get slabs for some slipjoints (the lone grained parts near the crown remind me of winterbottom bone).

Guess that settles what specie its from finally! I dont know why I haven't asked on here before! :D

Cheers.
 
Let us know what Customs says. Some 35 years ago I was coming back from a year in Scotland (I was 17 years old, exchange student deal). I'd found a Red Deer shed in the Highlands and was bringing it home in my suitcase. I must of been the flavor of the week, a kid travelling by himself but customs at LAX literally was feeling all the seams of every clothing item in my bag. Maybe they thought I was a drug smuggler, as everyone knows little villages in Scotland were hotbeds of the cocaine trade in the 70's......not. So after they spent about an hour going through my bag they pick up the antler and cuss and discuss it for a while. So they call somebody from the Ag Dept or Fish and Game or somebody. So we get to wait 2 more hours for this agent to arrive. You know those little rooms where they take people in the airport and interrogate em in all the movies? Yep they exist. No waterboarding or anything like that just waiting for two hours with 2 customs guys. So this other agent gets there picks up the antler gives the custom guys a dirty look and says its "a deer antler" and leaves. So I get to repack all my stuff and pass on through customs with my deer shed. Made my first knife with that shed. Made a Scottish dirk, what else.
 
LAX aint too bad now days, and found if you call or email ahead and print our or record the date of your correspondence it looks a lot better coming through. But I will be a lot happier once I am through!
 
I'm thinking the chances of you running into the same two guys I did are pretty slim. Thats a good idea calling or emailing ahead. keep us posted and wanna see the knives too!
 
Hey guys just to update I called them and they told me there would be no issues bringing it in, it just has to be inspected which takes like 5 minutes...LAX always has someone on site who can check it out so she's packed in my luggage right now ready to go and I made up some pieces to stop the tine tips punching through my bag.
 
Thanks for the update and info. Good luck keep you're fingers crossed. Still want to see pics when you're done.
 
I'm calling definitely not Rusa.
Interestingly tho Australia has large feral populations of both Javan Rusa & Sambar.
These two have met in the middle and believed to have interbred creating a hybrid.
That would be a big deer with big big antlers. Could just be myth.
 
meako said:
I'm calling definitely not Rusa.
Interestingly tho Australia has large feral populations of both Javan Rusa & Sambar.
These two have met in the middle and believed to have interbred creating a hybrid.
That would be a big deer with big big antlers. Could just be myth.
Click to expand...

Up north from where I am atm there are areas with both of them, I got rid of my rifles before I could bag one though...I REALLY wanted a Sambar for a german hunting sword project I want to do, but I'm going to use the large section of this antler likely and the tapers will be fore some integral bowies. Can't wait to get setup in the US again with a forge, mill and lathe.
 
Dear Robert,

Yes, you can bring your deer antler to the U.S. You will need to make sure it is properly identified. I recommend that you 1) write and sign a simple statement identifying the item as a shed deer antler that originated in New Zealand and 2) present the statement to U.S. port officials when you arrive (or if you are shipping it separately, rather than taking it with you, include the statement with the shipping documents, so the shipping company can present the statement to port officials).

If you have further questions, feel free to contact us.

Wishing you a smooth move,

Linda Kahn-Tobin
Senior Staff Veterinarian
Import By-Products Staff
National Center for Import and Export
Veterinary Services
Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Phone (301) 734-3277
Fax (301) 734-8226
Click to expand...

I also recieved an email reply just a few mins ago to the one I sent a week or so ago...I will print this out along with a statement so its a simple case of checking it and I'm on my way (gave myself 4 hours to get to my domestic flight).
 
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