He Turned Deer Antler Hobby Into A Business

He Turned Deer Antler Hobby Into A Business AG WORLD 24-6-21 Bentley Coben, 47 of Tessier Sask., has always enjoyed picking up deer antlers. "When I was a little boy my dad would take me hunting and I would pick up deer antlers and bring them home. I have always been intrigued with them." When Coben got older, he started going out hiking and looking for antlers with his kids. Sometimes he would take a photo of a deer and go hunting for his antlers each year until he died. "You can tell a lot from a deer by his antlers," says Bentley. Antlers have the same coloring, the same texture, and the same general appearance from year to year. Deer will lose one antler and it may be up to nine days later before they lose the other antler. To find the pair out in the brush is the challenge. You can walk in an area and you can go for three miles without seeing an antler and then suddenly there they are all together in one spot. I call these core shedding areas. Bentley is a consultant with the North American Shed Hunting Club. The club is made up of members who like Bentley, collect antlers and compare to see who has the biggest antlers. He teaches the members how to measure their antlers and they talk about where to find them. Bentley spends about two hours on the phone each night talking to people interested in shed antler hunting from all across North America. "Our area has lots of deer antlers because we don't have any squirrels. In the U.S. most of the deer antlers are eaten by squirrels. If you don't find the antler within days of it dropping there won't be anything left of it. So, it is a big treat for people to come here and find antlers that have not been chewed. The only thing that will eat antlers here is the odd porcupine," he said. Bentley started offering antler-hunting tours and even made a video on the subject. Now, he has people coming from all over to go antler hunting with him. "We charge $250 per day U.S. That includes accommodations and meals," Diane said. Coben's video, "Treasures In The Buck Brush", sells for $34.95 (U.S.). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bentley Coben, Wildlife Productions Inc., Box 43, Tessier, Sask. Canada S0L 3G0 (ph 306 656-4903).

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