Late season surprise
I have given the deer where I hunt a good 3 week to calm down from the rut and decided to hunt yesterday and today, the last 2 days of the season. I figured I could hunt the food sources and maybe bag that big buck I've been chasing all season. When I went around and checked all my cameras yesterday I found some good and bad news. the good news, several bucks are back in the area and feeding up in the daylight. Bad news, they have already shed there antlers. I have never hunted late season but figured by reading and photos from other people they would at least keep there antlers until around February. I live in the next county over from where I hunt and seen a small 6 pointer in the yard just 3 evenings ago but also seen what I swore was a big boy out there with no rack. Where I hunt though, even the smallest bucks are now without antlers. Is this normal here in VA, I wonder, or does it have something to do with the warm fall, 5 feet of rain we got, or a terrible year for acorns with none at all on the ground?