Anterless buck?

[scott44]

Pulled my cards and I think I have an buck who dropped his antlers, isn't this a little early?

 

[tooln]

I've already had one come off in my hand during the WI rifle season.

 

[bwoods11]

Saw one in Iowa with both antlers shed.

Checked cameras and there were 2 more bucks with one horn shed or missing already.

 

[dipper]

Guys are you sure they are shed. I've had bucks break off their entire racks. The earliest I've ever seen bucks shedding was 12-15. There was 2' of snow that year and pretty tough conditions.

 

[browndog]

I've got two bucks on cam this week that have dropped one side. Had them on cam a few days before that with both sides. Read on another site that guys in WI were seeing this for the past week or so.

 

[John-W-WI]

I (much to my surprise) also have a buck with one shed antler already. Earliest I've ever seen it? Might have something to do with the January weather we had in early November?

-John

 

[phil@thesidehill]

Guys are you sure they are shed. I've had bucks break off their entire racks. The earliest I've ever seen bucks shedding was 12-15. There was 2' of snow that year and pretty tough conditions.

bucks shed in december all over the place every year. every year i get pics of bucks missing one or both in december. that said...its a relatively small subset of bucks...but it really isnt that uncommon. the lion's share of sheds will hit the ground the last two weeks of February and first week of March every year.

shedding is affected by a host of factors.

Physical condition is one factor and in and of itself can be influenced by many things. An intense rut will wear a buck down quickly, droughty years often leave bucks going into the rut at a deficit nutrionally, sub par habitat obviously keeps them in less than peak condition, quick onset of harsh winter weather will add stress to an already worn down post rut buck.

Injury can cause early dropping. Injuries from fighting, being shot, getting hit by a car. any injury to the skull and pedicles such as cranial abscess can cause them the drop early...usually with cranial abscesses there will be a substantiall chunk of skull and pedicle attached to the antler along with the presence of fowl smelling puss and lots of blood.

Timing of the drop in testosterone levels. In herds with high doe to buck ratios many does may not get bred the first time around in November so they will cycle additional times at 21-30 day intervals. the presence of estrous does can keep the testosterone levels up for longer periods of time. the opposite can also be said...all does in an area have been bred the first time around and testosterone levels can plummet early. Testosterone levels may also drop to poor physical condition.

And lastly, i also think some bucks are genetically predisposed to drop early, late, on time.

i have pics of a buck this year that dropped one antler between November 24th and the 29th. here in PA our rifle season most years is the first two weeks of december, depending on whether thanks giving is earlier or later in Novmeber. It is not uncommon for rifle hunters to find fresh sheds, shoot a big doe only to find out its a shed buck, or to have and antler "shed" while draggin a buck out of the woods. I have even heard a few stories of a guy shooting a buck with both antlers on its head, only to find one or both antlers laying on the ground as they walk up to it. Last year i had three bucks on trail camera that had shed one or both antlers in the month of december.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

Pulled my cards and I think I have an buck who dropped his antlers, isn't this a little early?

no doubt that is a shed buck.