So, after 7 fruitless (well, not technically "fruitless" - but pretty lousy) trips out shed hunting, I still have basically nothing to show for myself.

I admit it. It's starting to make me mad. I hate losing.

First of all, I keep having people tell me that they're seeing bucks still carrying both sides. Adding credence to these claims, I have a good buddy with a camera out - and he's routinely getting pics of bucks with antlers still intact (below). Yesterday, my dad calls me and says he almost mashed a pretty big buck on his way to work. His definition of "big buck" would be a 12" 4x4. So, take that with a grain of salt. But anyway... I really started wondering...

So last night, curiosity got the best of me, and I went spotting. I saw at least 6 different bucks (out of about 50 deer)still carrying both sides. Considering that our buck/doe ratio is really bad, that's an abnormally high percentage.

HELLO?! It's almost APRIL! What's up with that?

I'm sure we've all seen that one deer who carries his rack until pretty late in thespring, but this is widespread - not just an isolated thing. All appear to be 1.5's. I didn't see any 2.5's still carrying. But then again, that age bracket is pretty rare around here... So I just might not haveSEEN any 2.5's. Whatev.

So, is there any rational explanation for an entire herd in a particular geographic area to be carrying their antlers MUCH later than they normally do?

I know it isn't a lack of stress. These deer get hunted to death and there's not a whole lot of good food left, so I know that their stress levels have been pretty high since October.