8-pointer

Wilhalmina is hunting in the woods. (Ugly Betty)

W: "Shh, sounds like a big one, 8-pointer maybe."

Could you tell me what she means by "8-pointer"?


Thanks!

The number of points on the antlers of a deer - a measure of its size.

These are 8-point bucks:

http://www.whitetaildeer-management-and-hunting.com/images/Sep13-Eight-Point-Buck.jpg
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_100/11644214893jb3EN.jpg
http://www.capelinks.com/images/photo-gallery/nature/8_point_close.jpg

Note, however, that Easterners count all the tines a buck deer is carrying whereas we, out West where the deer can be really large, would just call such a buck a "four-pointer."

In either case, it's the mark of a mature male, but the number of "points" does not relate to the size of the antlers, which generally grow thicker and longer with a greater "spread" every year as the deer grows a new set after shedding the old ones in the spring.

Sometimes, however, the genes go awry and deer antlers sprout more points. In such cases, the deer is called non-typical.