Livbucks, I guess my observations might only conclude one thing...you cant say its this way or that, as it still seems to vary. I always wrote down the shed dates of all my bucks. Some would go almost to the day for two or three years in a row, only to become random for a couple years afterward. Ill ALWAYS say this, the animals health and condition is the only thing that can dictate early shedding. Like these guys said, seeing November shedding, I too see this from my perspective as a taxidermist. I always saw body trauma with early shedding. I had a buck shed his buttons in March, his yearling rack in February, his two year old antlers in December, and this years rack in March. I had a five year old that was pretty consistent for a few years, then last year he shed one side January 1st and the other side February 1st. This year he shed both sides together in March. Another five year old shed in April two years ago, late February last year, and still has this years antlers as of today.

I see no correlation between velvet shedding and antler shedding either. They all seem to shed velvet about 2 weeks after their summer coat sheds out, usually around the first of September. Some will skin the velvet off a bit, prematurely, and finish shedding because of this. But like I said, I cant predict when a late shedding buck will go, but I can see poor condition animals shedding early.

Somebody asked if harsh winters makes a difference. Yes, I think so. But to me, harsh isnt cold vs warm. Heavy and prolonged snow cover makes it harsh as they dont find the feed the same way. Really really cold can stress them too, as they use more energy to keep warm. But cold to us is different than cold to deer. Also, unseasonably warm temps can also be tough on deer, as they still have a winter coat.

I learned something from having live deer. I used to think that whatever I saw was the RULE. Now Im starting to realize that what I am seeing only proves one thing...there are many more variables to those rules!