Are the bucks in your area dropping horns already. I took what I thought was at truck of a doe yesterday. Turns out it was a 154# buck with shed horns. I saw the spot on it's head from the tree I was in. At first I thought it was just dirt or something then I thought it was giant mutant button buck. I was shocked when I saw it had lost it's rack. I've been doing some asking and I'm not the only one. How about you folks?
that happens every year. Shame too. around here some dropped early, but I've seen a couple in the last week that still have both sides.
thats a real shame,mike.theres a few people around here finding some sheds,thats why i carry bino's this time of year.
As of last Saturday the bucks that I saw still had the headgear
while hunting in s.ohio on dec 17,my buddy found both side"s of what appears to be an older buck"s antlers. It was a decent 10 ptr,he"s found 2 more since, younger healthy deer?
Some have got their antlers around here, but then if you go farther north there still carrying them. I think it was because we had a spell of really warm weather,
PC
While trapping I found a few fresh sheds on the public land where they tend to have a lot of pressure and not as good of nutrition.
I've seen several bucks on private land still wearing their racks..of course we've had a snap of really warm weather.
I've seen the shed as early as December, but have seen many bucks with antlers in February.
I see bucks with horns as late as Mid March in SC..some do shed much earlier.
In GA its a mixed bag as well....optics will help you avoid this error.
In the part of TN I hunt, we noticed bucks shedding their horns a week or so ago. This is earlier than normal. Perhaps it is related to higher than normal stress on the herd brought on by the extended drought, lack of acorns, and the EHD outbreak.
Here in part of Texas most willnot drop until mid March. The older bucks seem to drop first.
"The good Lord only gave me so many sunrises, I don't intend to miss one.
I talked to a buddy this a.m. and he said he saw 5 bucks yesterday in west central IL where I hunt and one of them had dropped one side, the rest were still intact.
A buddy picked up a matched pair of 5x5 2 weeks ago!/? I was pretty surprised by that. He said they were still bloody. I saw a few whities on monday and all were still intact.
South west Wisconsin has had deer shed antlers by mid December. That being said, whe have had a rough December, only 3 day with no snow and temps at or below zero most mornings. Man, very early to see the antlers drop. I guess they have been stressed by this weather.
They are dropping now. I shot one a buddy pushed to me in ohio one year. It was running past my stand,it looked like a bigdoe.
Made a perfect bilateral pneumothorax,only to walk up to a nice buck that had dropped it's antlers. Kind of sad really. :campfire:
Last saturday I had a managed shotgun hunt in maryland. 2 bucks were taken with full headgear. 5 bucks were taked with one antler. 3 bucks were taken with no headgear.
I saw a 150" buck and a spike buck here in NY during the last week.I will be keeping tabs on the big feller in the next few weeks.He lives on unhuntable land. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: Guess Id be pretty happy to pick up his sheds.
QuoteOriginally posted by herkimerhunter:
I saw a 150" buck and a spike buck here in NY during the last week.I will be keeping tabs on the big feller in the next few weeks.He lives on unhuntable land. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: Guess Id be pretty happy to pick up his sheds.
he doesn't always stay on the unhuntable land.Now's a good time to scout and find out where he spends time on huntable land. Those sheds would be a trophy
even with out getting the buck. Good luck.
There is a gentleman that always post picture on "novascotihunting.com. He tolk several pics of bucks in a field near his area and they all still had thier antlers. These pics were taken this morning.
....I've been watching a young (1.5 year old) buck in the back yard that dropped his the day after Christmas.
Dirty Bill, I like your positive thinking but this sucker lives in a town of 100,000 and beds in an unhuntable cemetary and feeds in the yards of mansions,the only chance I have to kill the old boy is putting him down after a soccer mom hits him with her Benz.Oh well, theres other big deer but hed sure be cool to hunt him as hes so close to the house.
QuoteOriginally posted by herkimerhunter:
Dirty Bill, I like your positive thinking but this sucker lives in a town of 100,000 and beds in an unhuntable cemetary and feeds in the yards of mansions,the only chance I have to kill the old boy is putting him down after a soccer mom hits him with her Benz.Oh well, theres other big deer but hed sure be cool to hunt him as hes so close to the house.
That's too bad. he's probably nocturnal too. Do you have a trail cam? Sounds like you could get a good pic of him.
My brother shot an antlerless Jan. 1st of late season in Nebraska. To our surprise it was a "he". Looked like he dropped them within the week. A bit surprising to me as I thought Feb. is a little more common time.
I read something last month that stated older bucks tend to loose their anlters before younger bucks do. I don't know it this is true, but I did see a small six-point the last day of the season (last Saturday). A buddy of mine has some recent trail cam pics of an older deer with one side missing.
I shot one the third Saturday in December and when I went to drag him both horns came off . Saw one earlier in the same day that had already shed but I thought I was seeing things.
I found a fresh shed while out bunny hunting two weekends ago.
I'm watching 8-10 Bucks and all still have their head gear. A buddy about 5 miles away has found 3 already.
I once climbed into my stand after Christmas in Ohio and looked down to see a very fresh set of shed antlers from a buck I passed up in November, from that same tree. I could hardly wait for that session in my stand to end, so that I could claim my prize!
Last night I saw 3 bucks with 2 does on my farm. All 3 bucks had full racks and as 2 of them got near one of the does, they briefly sparred and the winner mounted the doe right there in the headlights of my car. I felt a little funny watching the whole thing....the interesting thing was that my 7 year old daughter had asked me to explain how animals mate just the previous night - wish she was there to see for herself!
Have heard of a few that have dropped here in Mo.
I'm going out again Sat. I'll be hawk eyeing every deer to make sure I don't make the mistake twice. The only one that was happy was my taxidermist. He took the cape for people that mess theres up. Should be good, the place I'm going hasn't been hunted all season and is surounded by presurve. There city folks, hate the deer but don't want to see the gore. Gotta wait till they leave for there Vacation home.
I've found a few fresh sheds this week while trapping. The bottom appears to be a set, they were both found within 20 yards of each other on the same run.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Drewsifer/IM000925.jpg)
Herkimerhunter, Same thing. I watch a 160 & 130 class feed in the field across from the job site today. Know way you can hunt them inside city limits. But I`ll be watching to see if either one of them drops. Don
Went out today to take down the last of my stands here in NW Iowa. Saw 13 deer. Three of them were antlered bucks with both antlers still attached. They should be dropping them soon around here.
around here i've seen them drop antlers before christmas and i've seen them with antlers clear up into april.