Are you sure about that Duke? There are several conditions that can influence when a buck will shed his antlers. For one, social status can change. Within a healthy herd, dominant bucks will have been replaced every 2-3 years generally. Dominant bucks shed far sooner than subordinate bucks because of the stresses their body endures in becoming that dominant buck. A 1.5 yr. old 6 pt. may not shed his first rack well into February or March. However, once he becomes the main man in his land, he'll shed far sooner..let's say January 10th for example. Also climate conditions play a role as well. A harsh cold snap or extended periods of snow cover or any other weather related incident that causes stress on the body will force him to drop early.
If you can show me some documentation or research that says bucks will generally drop around the same day within a few days I will stand corrected.
RockinChair.. that's where I stated (as long as he has health.) I thought that was self-explanatory.
As far as documentation. I've read it much more than once in my lifetime. But.. because you ask... here's an article written by Alsheimer on the subject. Although he only includes mature bucks in this article... La Rue has documented it for years with several age groups.
The Blood of Autumn.. Charles J. Alsheimer. Deer and deer hunting magazine.
Sorry no link. I just no longer do another mans searching. I've wasted too
many hours doing this over the past.
One last note.. I too notice the same occurances. And fully believe its mostly true. However mother nature doesn't follow a written book and each whitetail is different from the next. This way.. the deer survives. It would be easier to hunt deer that all behaved the same way.. wouldn't it..??