Out last night 3 bucks had only half their racks and my sons buck lost both sides when he fell down.Anyone else seeing this?
And last night at the check station they said 8 other bucks lost their racks when shot or when dragging them out.
Same thing in northern MN.
Iowa has up to date harvest info on their DNR website and they have listed 303 shed bucks harvested to date. Makes you wonder how many were big bruisers when they had headgear taken as "big does"?
what causes them to shed this early???
-hov
As soon as most the does are bread the buck's testasterone levels drop and then the antlers do. The bucks that still have antlers are probably the domanent bucks in the area servising the remaining does..
Hova,
Most of it has to do with body condition and nutrition. I've seen bucks in Iowa with good food sources in Iowa hold their racks until March. It's not common, but it can happen.
I also remember reading that possibly the AMOUNT of breeding a buck has done throughout the rut may contribute to earlier shedding. The thinking is testosterone levels are kept lower with more breeding. Small bucks breed less, and shed later.
Yep...droppin' here in Canada!
im from kansas and every year i hear stories of a few deer that have antlers fall off when pulled on or after there shot. last season i shot a doe on dec 31 and when i went back the next morning to look for my arrow i found a shed that i know for sure wasnt there the day before. i personally think there are a few deer every where that shed early just like there are a few does that cycle late. in my opinion
Sure seems early though, not even Christmas.
Yeah Burnsie, sure does! But then look at the weather we've been having, seems more like January than December!
Then too, this whole season has been strange here, for me!
Early Spring? :pray:
Not here yet. Its too early.
I saw one today with the left side missing, he went by me this morning with a small fork horn. He was following the much younger dear.
The buck with the left side missing was a dandy but very wore down.
Seen a couple in the neighborhood here walking around with only one side.
Happens like this every year, I know it seems early but some always shed early and some carry them late.
We start shed hunting after the first of the year and scouting for next season also. :thumbsup:
Tracy
Working with the check station here at Quantico, VA all the bucks checked in since Saturday still very solid in the horns and none reported yet missing any.
Earl
Saw 2 more half racks today.And my sons deer was a dominate buck 130 class 8pt with 12 inch g2, As soon as it hit the ground they fell off.
I'm a taxidermist and I had a guy bring me a buck that dropped an antler while hanging on his game pole at camp. It had both antlers when he hung it and the one fell off while hanging. Then I had a guy bring me one the other day that when it fell, the antler came off but not a shed. There was a knob left on the skull at the pedicle and a hollow out up in the antler. Never saw anything like it and no explanation. Being a taxidermist, I get to see some amazing things with deer that prove how tough an animal they are.
That would explain my late season! Not a buck and 17 does/antlerless!
I saw two bucks on the way home Friday that were each missing one side. Also saw two others that were complete. The ones missing an antler were smaller bucks than the others.
Yep everything was early this season around here
I don't think it's out of the norm. I've heard of or seen bucks that drop every Dec. I shot one by mistake afew seasons back. I think once there testosterone levels drop "It's over Johnny" that's when the come off. Young buck don't get much breeding in so they tend to hold them a bit longer. Seems like the big boys grow first and drop first.
The antlers are not dropping here where I live in the state of Texas.
Not here- our rut is going on right now. New data shows it peaks between Christmas and New Year's day in my area.
I was at Cade's Cove in the Great Smokey Mts with my wife a few years ago in March. All of the bucks had dropped their antlers except for 2 dominant bucks and they were still chasing a few does and had all their head gear. We had been watching these deer all season and it was obvious which ones were the dominant bucks. My wife got photos of these two bucks fighting early on in the season from about 15 yards away. It was pretty cool!
Some pics we have and some other sightings are showing the big boys still have their racks. The good bucks and smaller ones are the ones we have been seeing falling off. My nephews was a real good one that fell off. It's been extremely cold around these parts this time of year. Food is getting scarce as well for these deer. I'm not certain we'll ever really know what causes them to drop early or late. Our deer eat real good with all the food around our woods.Acorns,corn,soy beans,etc. So nutrition is not an issue here. Our doe to buck ratio is really good too. So, who knows.
I've been seeing alot of bucks over my way that have shed at least one side. I guess It's time to start shed hunting.
Well my Lab found one (left side) tonite. (He's amazing!) Its very fresh. Its from a Buck that will really be something in another 2 yrs and one I hoped to find. About a 130" class 5x5 3 yr. old.
Here is a pix of him a month ago.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Kagyone/IMG_1639.jpg)
Saw two nice bucks on the 18th and one had 1/2 a rack!
I picked up my first fresh shed of the season on December 14th this year. Last year it was December 16th. I watched a half rack shed one side with five points two years ago while shaking his head in February. I couldn't believe how far he threw it. It landed more than 30 feet from where he was standing!
most may already do this but come mid december we don't drag them by the horns anymore because they have pulled off on a few friends,, we put a thick stick sideways in their mouth and then tie the jaws shut to drag them.
Hope the gentleman Mr. Roe doesn't mind, but I saved the following great anology from last year since it's an anual topic.
Posted by Certified Wildlife Biologist Chris Roe:
"
There is actually a lot of science out there on this. ...I could RE-write a book on this, but in brief:
Antler growth and "drop" is related to testosterone levels in the body, and THAT is related to the amount of daylight vs. darkness AND breeding activity. Those that say that animals can/do drop antlers within a couple of days the same time each year are seeing this fact in action; cycles of day vs. night are consistent year to year, and thus the primary driver of testosterone levels, and thus cycles of antler development. Also, most deer/elk farms/research facilities/populations have fairly stable sex ratios so breeding activity and "intensity" is often fairly consistent year in and year out (excluding changes in age and dominance of course) meaning that breeding affects are fairly consistent.
How does breeding fit in? It depends on age and sex ratios of the population. Animals don't "use up" their testosterone, but testosterone levels can be affected by external stimuli. So - in populations where males nearly equal females, all females typically get bred within their very first estrous cycle. Because of that, "breeding stimulus" (i.e. the scent and pheromones of estrous females) comes and goes fairly quickly - females come in to estrous, they get bred, and that's it. Without external stimulus to keep testosterone high, levels settle back fairly quickly and follow circadian rhythms (day vs. dark). Because the animal's body "metabolizes" hormones "out" of its system at pretty much a fixed rate, the sooner testosterone drops after breeding, the sooner the animal's testosterone levels fall enough to allow the next cycle to begin and drop his antlers.
In populations where there a lot more females than males, then some females miss getting bred the first go-round, and come into estrous a second or even third time. The longer females stay in estrous, the longer males have external stimuli keeping their testosterone levels high. The longer they are high, the longer they - ultimately - keep their antlers (within reason).
Age plays into it as well. Younger males are like teenage boys, with hormones raging; they can stay "stimulated" and excited to breed longer than mature animals. Mature animals know what the "actual" breeding cycle is, and breeding "realities" are, and can - depending on the animal, and - for lack of a better way of putting it - "bow out" of the breeding excitement as soon as females aren't receptive any more. ...young males can keep trying, and thus their testosterone levels might not fall as rapidly as more mature animals. Hence, in these type of populations, mature animals can drop before immature animals.
Antler size and weight also plays in on the equation, but not - in my opinion - significantly.
Body condition plays into it as well. If the winter puts the animal in a net "negative" body condition, then the animal will need to get its body condition into a net "positive" condition before any significant (if any) antler growth occurs. If an animal isn't placed in a net "negative" body condition over the winter (or if the negative condition is very brief), and body condition stays in the "positive" territory, then antler growth can start as soon as hormone levels allow. Hence why food plots in northern areas can help with antler development, and why winter severity/annual moisture can have an impact from year to year.
"
Just shot an antlerless buck w/small pedicles (mistaken doe) here 12/23/10 in southern WI. He was aged at 2 ½ and was fat and healthy.
Kris