Trophy Collector
A good 3 year old buck
Has anyone found any sheds yet this year or any trail cam pics with them gone?
Deer Shedding Antlers Yet
- Thread starter Trophy Collector
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Trophy Collector
A good 3 year old buck
A year ago today I found one here in MN. Alot harder winter last year too.
D
dipper
Guest
We had a 170" plus giant run out of a 80 acre piece I am looking to possibly buy, mid week coyote hunting. Damn devil has to tempt me. I also saw 4 yearlings together earlier on the day still holding, and the guys saw some additional bucks too.
Deer are in good shape so far
Deer are in good shape so far
OkieKubota
5 year old buck +
Last weekend I had a 3 1/2 yr old that had lost both sides and a 1 1/2 that had lost one on trail cam.
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bat man
Guest
Cleaning some exit trails in some new hinged bedding and almost stepped on it. I never find them when I look for them. Rough guessed the score at 70. The lumberjack holding it is 8 feet tall with hands the size of a yard rake.
j-bird
Moderator
Do you guys find that antler drop changes from year to year? If so what causes the change? I always thought that the longer the buck held the antler (to a point) the healthier they are. Is there any truth to that? I typically don't find any until the early spring when I start to burn the grasses and start doing some other habitat work. I have only found 3 on my place in nearly 20 years.
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
I just copied this from another thread where i dropped my 2 cents on the matter....
this thread http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/anterless-buck.2049/#post-36966
"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
5 year old buck +
thats a beastly shed right there....love that color batman!
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
I havent found any sheds yet...but i haven't really started looking yet. most years i pick up one or two in january. I have a trail cam pic of a buck that dropped one side between November 24th and the 29th this year! earliest shed i have ever seen. I have heard of a few bucks being killed around here in december that dropped one side or when they walked up to the dead buck the antlers were laying on the ground next to it. Fairly typical. The lion's share will be holding till late Feb early March.
SmallChunk
5 year old buck +
Just pulled the cards on my two cams. 3 different bucks all still holding as of yesterday
Steve Oehlenschlager
5 year old buck +
Was photographing deer on New Years Eve. One adult buck that was maybe 2 1/2 had already lost both. Every other buck I came across was still holding them. Was hoping to get out today and go check them out, but -20 temps lessened my prey drive and I went back to bed. Hoping to go this weekend. A couple of the bucks I follow are 150 to 170 and I would love to get my hands on them!
Steve Oehlenschlager
5 year old buck +
If this snow keeps off, I am thinking in the next 2 weeks of heading up to my farm to look for sheds. Last year I found 9 of them in my sugar beet plot. Would like to look the place over before my cousin finds them while he is out calling coyotes. It is not too often in Mid January that we have less than 2 inches of snow in central Minnesota. Talk about a nice winter for the deer and turkeys this year so far!
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dipper
Guest
I saw around 60 deer tonight and a few bucks on this 38 acre bean field of my neighbors. Hard to see them but there is about 20 back there.
The deer are in great shape still seeing a few on the alfalfa fields. Gonna be some stud bucks next year with this easy winter.
The deer are in great shape still seeing a few on the alfalfa fields. Gonna be some stud bucks next year with this easy winter.
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bat man
Guest
where do you live and film schlager?
Jordan Selsor
5 year old buck +
I'm headed out to the farm today an will pull cam cards. We shall see if our central mo bucks still got their head gear. Last year a couple started dropping on jan 12 but we had a very hard winter. I'm interested to see if they all still have them now then we will know wether it is more genetic like Phil mentioned or more prone toward health an stress
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
I think shedding is affected by a whole host of factors....not just the genetics. I do believe that some bucks may be hardwired to drop early, some late, but most right on time.
I really feel health may be one of the more important factors. However, i think it is relative. Not so much only the deer's OVERALL health but health at that time of year. And a deer's health at that time of year is impacted by a number of factors. I'm not saying that a deer's overall health can't be a factor, but i think you can have a buck that is healthy spring/summer/fall get worn down by the rut then have an early onset of a harsh winter and his health will undoubtedly be poor in december/january and he could drop his antlers ahead of the bulk of other bucks in that area. If the next year, he ruts just as hard, but winter is milder and say he has access to more food he may just hold onto them and drop them when the rest do.
To me its kind of like the time of does being bred. Some does will get bred in October,some does will get bred in December or even January, the majority will be bred in November and the vast majority will be bred inside of a 10 day window in November. its a bell curve. the center of the bell is where the majority of bucks in an area shed. to either side of the center of the bell you will have some smaller numbers of shedding going on.
In my area we see some early shedding in the beginning of December, then we will see a little bit more shedding in January. Then once we hit about the middle of February the antlers start dropping in droves into the first week of March. Then i will still see some bucks still packing one or both sides through march and an odd few into the beginning of April.
Brush Creek
5 year old buck +
Only seeing 1.5 year olds in Dakota County MN but they all have both sides yet.
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