Do any of you believe that bucks begin to enter open areas earlier in the evening once they shed their antlers? (become less shy)
The reason I ask, is because a dairy farm that I have permission to hunt allowed several hunters a chance to help thin the deer numbers, and because firearms are legal for late season here now, they were all using scoped rifles. (and thin the herd they did!)
The problem is, as the end of December neared, the bucks began shedding, and suddenly the long range shots were putting down bucks that would not previously show themselves with shooting light left.
Not wanting to have bullets wizzing under our stands, we abandoned our hunting there, but I would stop out to see how many deer were killed each evening.
Unfortunately, it is apparently difficult to tell a buck from a doe in low light and at a distance.
The last evening I stopped out (Dec 30th) I saw four bucks that had recently shed that had been shot.
When we hunted that same cut cornfield, I saw many deer each time out, and was able to see them well with binoculars, and never saw a single buck...shed or not.
As the weather gets tougher this time of year the antlers come off. The tougher the weather the sooner a deer gets hungery and hits the field. They gotta eat to stay warm. JMO.
I'm with Robert. It has to do more with food. Bucks are hungry after rutting hard and hitting whatever food is available close to cover. I'm seeing some early sheeding around here too, but our season has been closed for a month now. Those late season antlerless seasons are a drag! Why bot issue more doe tags instead?
We have had snow cover, and cold, for nearly a month.
I figure these bucks have BEEN hungry. When they had antlers they were totally nocturnal, a week later, without antlers, they enter the open areas with an hour of legal time left.
I`m just wondering if it IS because they are suddenly more hungry, or if they feel they stick out less without antlers. I know they are aware of their antlers by their actions during certain times of the year...especially the rut. Bigger racked bucks act different.
I forgot to mention in my first post, that with a firearm, it is antlerless only. With a bow, a buck is legal with the appropriate tag.