RED DEER, Alta. – The three American judges took a point off here and another off there, but could find little fault in the massive set of antlers in the six-year-old velvet antler class.
“They’re awesome,” said Pat Cooper, a judge with the North American Elk Breeders Association.
The 47.79-pound antlers from Del Lange’s bull, Starbuck, were about a third larger than anything else in the show at the Alberta Elk Expo, a provincial elk show and sale. It’s not official yet, but they are probably the largest antlers ever produced in North America.
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After the Alberta competition, Lange will take the frozen antlers to Fargo, North Dakota for the international competition.
Starbuck’s antlers won first place in the Alberta show in the four-and five-year-old class in previous years. In the same years they went on to win second and first in the international competition. Lange is hoping to win first again in the international competition at the end of the month.
Lange bought Starbuck with a group of elk as a calf.
“I was hoping there would be a diamond in the lot,” he said.
Size isn’t always the deciding factor in a winning set, but these antlers are very unusual, said Todd Franks of Lubbock, Texas, who worked as statistician for the competition.
“A 47-pound set is absolutely unheard of.”
Antlers from a two-year-old weigh about 14 lb. Antlers from a five-year or older animal generally weigh around 33 lb.
Mirror image ideal
The judges look for uniformity, symmetry, balance, calcification and damage to the antlers. Ideally an antler should form a right angle and each half should be a mirror image of the other.
“The judges look to see how aesthetically pleasing it is,” said Franks.
Judges also want to see the heavier part near the top in the high value part of the antler. The top five centimetres of antler can fetch $1,000 per lb. while the part near the head is worth about $3 a pound.
They also examine the cut and check the tips of the antlers for calcification. Sharp tines can indicate calcification has begun, which reduces the value of the antler.
Judges also note damage. Often the scrapes on the soft velvet are only surface scratches, but sometimes the scrape can become infected and ruin an entire batch of antler pills.
Damage also shows the conditions the animals were raised and whether the working corrals are safe, he said.
