I've been watching the local herd cast their antlers the past couple of weeks.  Most of the bucks here have lost at least 1 antler.  Some have lost both sides.  But this guy came into the camera last night and he still has both sides.  Notice the smaller buck in the background only has 1 side.  Thought I'd share.

otto most of our bucks still have racks also.any day now i will start looking .

wow, i had numerous guys tell me they saw bald bucks the last week of december here. i think by early feb most have dropped up north, yet i just saw a full rack last week

pete p

This year I saw some of the smallest bucks drop theirs right at the end of December.  OTOH, I have seen them here still carrying both sides as late as the first week of April.

been finding sheds here now

My uncle checked his cameras here in Vermont. 4
bucks with full racks a 10pt, 2-8pts a,d a spike. Also 8 different bucks with out any or half left. of all sizes.

Last night I saw a herd of about 35 deer in the field. I saw at least 4 antlered bucks. You might think I'm crazy, but this is the honest truth, I've seen a buck still with both antlers as late as April 11th.

OK, I'm gonna weigh in on this one. I too have seen full head dress the first week of April. The burning question for me is, if a doe has not been bred in the early months, do they still come into estrues until they are bred ???????????? And, if that is so, why wouldn't the dominate bucks keep their horns for as long as possible to be able to atract these " hard to get  " does???????????? Been wanting to ask a biogoligist this for many years now. Any answers would be appreciated.     Jerry

Wouldn't the late estrus does' fawns have a higher mortality rate? Less chance to carry on the blood line?
Also do larger rack take linger to grow?
I would say nature plays the majority.

As long as there are does in heat, the dominant bucks will keep their antlers. I was in Cades Cove, in the Great Smokey Mountains in March a few years ago and the 2 dominant bucks still had full headgear and were chasing does. All the others had lost their antlers. Usually this is an indicator of an unbalanced buck/doe ratio.    Pat

Like he said, some have them some don't!

Steve,
 I've been finding sheds around here for about a week. Found the matched set from a big 8 pt, maybe 120" class, 100 yards from our house yesterday morning.

John

This vid is from 2/11/08.  Two of the nicer bucks from last year together.  September 15 seems so far away.....

"September 15 seems so far away....."
Aint it the truth...

Talk about irony- I was shed huntin'/stumpin' yesterday when I jumped a nice little buck... with both sides still on. I walk over to where he's bedded, and theres a nice 5-Point antler...

Otto's got it right!

Matt, Maybe he had 3 antlers.      Pat

A  friend of mine saw two bucks just the other day.  Some haven't dropped, but that's not unusual.