It Has Begun
 

Some Horns are Hard

Local tree Farmer sent out word to his Permit crew that trees are being wacked

Its early - but its begun:D

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Here in northern Illinois the earliest I have seen them shed is the last week of August.. Wow you guys on the other side of the planet are weird;);)[8D]

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I have mixed feelings about this. I'd like for antlers to grow for another 30 to 40 days.
But on the other hand, It's still early enough to get in and do a bit more light scouting without too much disruption.

46 days and counting....

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Wow, that is early.

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Well that sucks. Man I was hoping the one's I've been seeing could have a few more weeks and hopefully add another 100" or so. :( Dinks everywhere.

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Hard already?:eek: I think I'd have to see that in person to believe it.:) The earlist I've ever seen velvet shed is the last week of August and then there's still plenty more with velvet still attached. Whether or not I believe you doesn't matter though, the horns will be hard come archery season!;)

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That's hard to believe. Something other than bucks are likely causing the damage. The photoperiodism responsible for the hardening of antlers, shedding of velvet, etc. is the same this year as it's always been. All the bucks here are still in velvet--no surprise--and will probably grow a small amount, if any from this point on. During August, hardening will occur and the shedding of velvet will begin in late August/early Sept. . . . . like it always has.

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yeah, I'd have to disagree as well. I'm in PA and they typically don't begin to shed velvet till about the end of August. And anyway, Bucks don't rub trees to remove their velvet very much.

I'd have to say that something else is doing that.

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Deer do not sport horns anyway so Rack must be talking about Jack o lope;)[8D][&:]

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Well I thought its early as well......It is possible the tree farmer is looking for an excuse to thin out the herd and the info is wrong.......I myself have never seen them hard at this time........

Maybe I am just wishing:D:D

Though I do agree with this - I also believe it triggers deer to drop there antlers and as we know this can happen from Dec till April or more.....So I would not be shocked if one or two shed their velvet a month before others.....................nature is a funny thing:D;)

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LET ME TELL YA FELLA'S..........This season is going to come early! I dont care what anyone says, here in ohio, it may be different because yall are in a different state, but here in ohio it is unseasonably cold for july!! Which is going to trigger all kinda of different stuff for these whitetails here where i hunt. If you all didnt notice this years turkey season was a lil outta whack, some hunters got their birds where others fell short, and the records were low in all states, i say that to say this.......the season is coming early so get your boots, bows, and arrows boys, the deer are to be harvested:)

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Turkey Fan,

I have no idea if you're right or wrong but I sure like the way you think:D

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newshooter where in wadsworth you hunt? i just recently lost the land that i used to hunt. the ownership changed hands and teh new guy is a prick... maybe you coudl tell me if there are some more land around to be had?

i have noticed strange things with the animals already so the season being early isnt to far off. i woudl say thay might be hitting stuff up about 2-3 weeks early

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Sounds like a case of premature de-velvetation to me.

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Daystalker I can hunt my own property. Where did you use to hunt? Alot of the property is privatly owned and is WELL managed with PandY being shot every year. I have other places also I can hunt.

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turkey season was bad around here because thers so many hens. all the birds were henned up until the end of the season. i think that could go the same way all around the midwest, as turkey populations are booming. too many hens though, wayyy too many.

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They definetly have been loosing their velvet here in CA. Here is proof taken on July 23rd, 2004.

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Well thank ya silentassasin;) I think i know what i am talking about and what i think, its just hard for people to understand my thoughts, LMAO!!
The pic that marine shows that young buck is outta velvet, so goes to show ya. hey devil dog.......what is the temp right now in pendelton?
I sure miss the Grunts, but it sure is good to be home, lol.

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Hey TURKEY FAN, it has been very warm here on Pendleton. I am an 0311, with 3/5 K. Co. I am in the process of checking out of here. I EAS Aug, 9th, and will be heading back to PA to stick a few deer, cant hardly wait. HOO RAH!

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Is California still an American state? :D

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You aren't kidding, Thursday I think the Temprature got all the way up to 65F, here in T-Town

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oooooooooooooohra, Marine glad you checking out, and that your not getting deployed over to sand town. Give me a holler and maybe we could hook up and tell marine stories and go do some deer hunting in both are hot spots. Well the temp this week is going back upto the low 80's, and then drop down into the low 60's, next month the leaves will start falling, then its time to dawn your gear boy's, CABIN FEVER IS KILLIN ME!!! Cant wait to get out and stick a big fat pig of a deer!!

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Matthews
I was with 3/5 hide and slide co. 86-90.
Back to the sub. I bet those PA. bucks look like a horse next to a Southern Cal. buck?:D

GET SOME!

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...and the global warming continues. :eek: Count your blessings because the world will end soon. ;)

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I can confirm Rack's statement. Saw a NICE 8 point yesterday driving home at 3am ish. It's rack was definitly out of velvet, and had some blood staining. I got a good 10 second look at him also.

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I am about 14 miles west of Tulsa, Ok and nuts have been dropping here since June!!! Huge hickory nuts all over the ground. I have never seen nuts drop so early. Going to be a huge mast this year. Weather has been unseasonibly cool, had a record low of 60 degrees last week(fish started biting like crazy). It is not far from that temp now at 12:00 noon. I don't know if the cooler temp and early dropping of nuts could have anything to do with maybe pushing the season up but it is an interesting thought. I saw a small 5 point about 3 weeks ago but he was still in velvet. I think this year is going to be awesome hunting, I'm pumped.

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better back up you alls vacation time a lil earlier this year fella's, the rut will be kicking off a few weeks earlier in my opinion.
1ST BN 8TH MARINES HERE, O311

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Weird!

We are somewhat coming out of about a 4 yr drought where i'm at and this year we've had lots of moisture and things growing like crazy, way more lush and for way longer than last year and on sept 5th last year they were just scraping the majority off...at least the big 6x6 i missed on that day(second day of the season) was just before he entered the field with a bunch of junk hangin from his mains. Our only chance to get em in velvet is usually the first few days of the season but this year it doesn't open until sept 8th boooo, no chance for velvet this year. Just seems weird about the weather and how soon some areas are showing the hard horns.

B

p.s., can't wait to see whats in store for me with such a good year for feed etc.;)

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Any further news?

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Saw a bunch of bucks the other night and they were all still in velvet. This report from central KY.

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Found a rub, with blood stains on it! It was 60 degrees this morning in cincy ohio

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Lucky