I gave up on trying to say with any logic WHEN a deer will shed its antlers
I have managed farms with same food cover, and pressure and genetics's and seen exact same deer shed antlers in early DEC and next yr hold them till April?
and see have the deer shed in Jan and rest any where from there till late April
I also see many deer with 1 side shed and the other on for months?
and have seen both come off at same time
seen them hold and shed early in cold heavy snow and low temps yrs as well as hot and warm winters
so, as far as I am concerned anymore, they just shed them when ever with ZERO rhyme
or reason
they come of when they come off I say!
all the books and studies I read all have no exact reason WHY they do
from, doe NOT being bred to blah blah blah
ALL opinions, and not proof to any of them I seen work out yet
I find then when I look and get lucky HAHA!
be it winter spring summer or fall, I have found them all yr round on the ground hung up in tree's and even in rivers and streams/ponds
I for yrs even tried building so called traps to HELP them come off, or built fences around food plots, so they had to JUMP over to get in and out of plots to TRY and help them come off
and again, they just come off where and when ever they wish if you ask me!