Kamil

Do younger bucks shed their antlers before mature bucks do? If so , why? I just don't see any reason why age would have anything to do with them dropping their antlers. Maybe there is some hidden purpose I am not seeing. Let me hear your thoughts.

Schultzy

Once a buck sheds his antlers the 1st time as a 1.5 old they will normally drop them close to the same time the following year and every year after that from what I understand.

chrowski

I have no solid base answer for that question...but I would assume, since bucks are capable of mating as long as their antlers are on their heads (it's the does that actually go into the rut, so to speak) then maturity would make sense as a factor of how long the buck keeps his antlers. In my area it seems the big guys start to get them first, so why wouldn't they keep them a bit longer?

IAhuntr

Here is a good explanation of antler shedding I pirated from the net:

Antler Shedding


In the past, it was believed that deer withdrew to secluded places to shed
their antlers in order to avoid the loss of virility in 'public.' However,
it is likely that deer are unaware of when they will lose their antlers.
Antlers are shed when a thin layer of tissue destruction, called the
abscission layer, forms between the antler and the pedicle. This layer
forms as a result of the decrease in testosterone. As the connective
tissue is dissolved, the antler loosens and is either broken free, or
falls off on its own. This degeneration of the bone-to-bone bond between
the antler and the pedicle is the fastest deterioration of living tissue
known in the animal kingdom.


In whitetails, a restricted diet has been found to cause bucks to shed
their antlers early. It has been suspected that the lack of adequate
nutrition somehow effects testosterone output. Nutritionally-stressed
bucks may also grow their antlers and shed their velvet later. Older-aged
bucks are thought to shed their antlers earlier than younger bucks. It has
also been reported that higher-ranked (more dominant) bucks cast their
antlers sooner than lower-ranked (subordinant) bucks. Older-aged, more
dominant bucks probably shed their antlers sooner because of the high
energy costs incurred in maintaining a higher dominance rank.


The farther deer are from the equator, the more defined their antler
cycle. In other words, northern deer have a shorter "window" of when
antler shedding can occur, compared to deer herds in southern states. In
addition, the specific date when a buck will shed his antlers may be
determined more by his individual antler cycle than any other factor. This
cycle is independent of other bucks and is believed to be centered on each
animal's birth date.


Penned deer studies have allowed scientists to measure the exact dates of
antler shedding for individual deer year after year. One study in
Mississippi found that individual bucks usually shed their antlers at the
same time each year and almost always during the same week. Yearling bucks
with only spike antlers shed sooner than yearling bucks with forked
antlers, likely because they were more nutritionally stressed than
fork-antlered bucks. This study also indicated there was no relationship
between antler mass and date of antler shedding, although other studies
have shown that bucks shed their antlers earlier as they grow older.
Additional penned studies have also revealed that bucks usually shed both
antlers within three days of each other.


Although there is no clear evidence that weather directly affects antler
shedding, it is likely that severe winters may also cause bucks to shed
their antlers earlier than normal because of the nutritional stress this
causes.