When do deer shed their antlers?

whitetailwoodsarcher

whitetailwoodsarcher

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hi, i just got back from checking my deer bait. no im not hunting htem right know i feed my deer through the whole year and keep my trail cam out to keep track of them. anyways i always thought they lost thire antlers in earler january! but every siingle deer had them still! so when do they lose them?
thanks!
 
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whitetailwoodsarcher said:
hi, i just got back from checking my deer bait. no im not hunting htem right know i feed my deer through the whole year and keep my trail cam out to keep track of them. anyways i always thought they lost thire antlers in earler january! but every siingle deer had them still! so when do they lose them?
thanks!
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I do the same... Have done for years now... Right now is roughly the time they start shedding... But I have seen them keep them right through to valentine's day...
 
There is a ton of research on this. My wife almost hit a big buck with the car just the other night, still toting its very impressive antlers. I also heard of 2 bucks being shot this past season in muzzle loader season (first full week in Dec) that had already shed their antlers.
I believe it has to do with does and estrous. If there are still does coming into estrous, and the bucks are still trying to breed, they keep their antlers. If the buck to doe ratio is good in a particular area, and the does are all bred early, the bucks drop their antlers early.
This is the best explanation I have come across, and make sense to me. But that's my opinion.
 
Fire306 said:
There is a ton of research on this. My wife almost hit a big buck with the car just the other night, still toting its very impressive antlers. I also heard of 2 bucks being shot this past season in muzzle loader season (first full week in Dec) that had already shed their antlers.
I believe it has to do with does and estrous. If there are still does coming into estrous, and the bucks are still trying to breed, they keep their antlers. If the buck to doe ratio is good in a particular area, and the does are all bred early, the bucks drop their antlers early.
This is the best explanation I have come across, and make sense to me. But that's my opinion.
Click to expand...

Makes very good sense to me...
 
I've heard that the timing of bucks losing their antlers is directly related to the health of the deer. Easy winters and access to good feed = healthy bucks which means they can often carry their antlers into the spring. Stressed deer will lose their antlers earlier, just a theory I'd heard.
 
I'm with Big Game on this one--I think it is directly related to physical condition.
I saw a big bull 18th of December that only had one horn and I saw a big one just yesterday that had a full set--and he was plowing thru chest deep snow like it wasn't even there.
 
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