RE: When do the antlers start dropping?
My old college roommate lives in Northern Jersey. Allamouchy Hackettstown area. He just found his first set of antlers ever. About a 130-140 inch set about a week ago. Me and my old man went out today for a few hours. He found one shed, a spike that was fresh. He also found another antler, but it wasn't a shed. It was broken off at the base about 2 inches from the pedicle. Nice half of an 8 point though. I live in Western NY, and most of the deer still have their antlers on though. I did see a buck yesterday with only one antler on though. Hope this helps.
Rob