Shedding Light on Antlers

EAGLE, Wis. (MCT) - The air had a softness and, though still mostly covered in snow, the hills of the Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit appeared to be smiling this week.

Late winter can be a generous season. More sunlight, warmer temperatures and the occasional bonus of found treasure.

I had just emerged from a thicket of white cedar, loosely following a game trail, and stood up to look toward the afternoon sun. There, a few feet off the trail and near the base of a birch, was an unusual shape amidst the slanting shadows of trees and melting craters of animal tracks: a white-tailed deer antler.

Partly submerged in the soft snow, the antler...