Bill Yox

Guys, if itll help, Ill share what I see...I used to really shed hunt hard. I found big antlers early, smaller bucks later...but not always. I dont think that timing was that predictable, but I do know this much...antlers always shed earlier if the buck, or the herd, is stressed. Body trauma to an individual deer, or poor condition, harsh conditions, etc, to the herd. Here INSIDE my enclosures, all but three bucks have shed, including my button bucks. The remaining three are two yearlings and a soon-to-be six year old. OUTSIDE the fence, most of my friends are growing impatient as they havent found much for antlers, and many, like you guys, are still seeing bucks carrying bone. By the way, just to clarify...photoperiodism, the amount of light per day, is not sunlight vs darker days. Its the annual increase and decrease of the light vs dark sequence, the measureable daytime and nighttime. Its the same measure that triggers animals to grow a new coat, for example.

Sylvan

I did a little poking around... this may shed (oooh a pun) some light on it. I'll see if I can find anything else...

http://www.qdma.com/articles/details.asp?id=21
"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. "

Sylvan

Here's another one...

http://www.huntingmag.com/big_game/antler_031405/

"The shedding period of antlers is lengthy and may occur over several months. One buck might shed antlers in January while another doesn't shed until April. While studying the shedding patterns of a few pen-reared bucks, I noted these individuals tended to shed their antlers about the same time each season.

Finding a matched set of antlers is the Holy Grail of shed hunting. Obviously the highest probability occurs when the sides fall off in close proximity, but determined hunters can sometimes locate them some distance away.
For instance, during a six-year period, one buck shed between February 3 and February 18 each year. He always dropped both antlers during this 15-day period. He carried his largest headgear the last two years, but this did not affect the time of year he shed.
During a three-year span, another buck always shed his antlers from March 2 through March 15--a span of 13 days in which both antlers dropped. The last time I watched him, when he carried a huge 10-point rack, he shed at almost the same day he shed the first year, when he carried six points."

livbucks

Bill,
From what you wrote, I would conclude that pen raised deer respond differently than wild deer. In my observations of wild deer, I have seen that larger racked bucks will hold longer than sub bucks. I have witnessed bachelor groups on many occasions in March, (this is always my luck, no hunting then) and the smaller bodied individuals are almost always the ones with empty sockets, and the bucks with headgear intact almost always have a heck of a nice rack. Again, my observations. I do not wish toignore scientific study. Did Latitiude factor in any of these studies? I have seen smallish bucks in March with one side missing. I have not seen a larger buck with one side missing as of yet. I have gone shed hunting several times in mid-Feb over the years and have never found a thing. Would the severity of the winter have any effect?

livbucks

Sylvan,
Did the article address the shedding of velvet? Is there as wide a window for velvet shedding as antler shedding? I always thought velvet shedding was based on the photoperiod too. Did the penned deer get studied for velvet too?
Thanks for the info, you never disappoint.
I guess we found a new topic to fill this empty period of our lives.

Sylvan

livbucks,
I must confess I didn't actually read either of the articles I posted the snippets from. I only did a quick search to find something relating to what I had read years ago and posted it for you. I'll also have to admit that I'm pretty ignorant about this subject. I've found maybe a dozen sheds in all my years and all of them quite by accident. Only 1 of them, from a real nice heavy 8 point, do I know when it was dropped and it was during the late PA bow season. I found it years ago under one of my fathers apple treesin plain view of my bedroom window. I was tickled to find it but disappointed to think that I would be sitting in the cold in my tree stand and bucks were already dropping their antlers.

livbucks

I have heard stories of guys shooting a nice buck and when they try to drag it out, the horns snap off and they have to drag it like a doe. We have killed many late season bucks in my familyandnothing like this has ever happened to any of us. Thank goodness!

jf5

We had deer shedding during the late Dec muzzy season here in SE MA, some big deer. Other areas of the statewhere more normal.

Dosn't food and stress play factors as well ??

Bill Yox

Livbucks, I guess my observations might only conclude one thing...you cant say its this way or that, as it still seems to vary. I always wrote down the shed dates of all my bucks. Some would go almost to the day for two or three years in a row, only to become random for a couple years afterward. Ill ALWAYS say this, the animals health and condition is the only thing that can dictate early shedding. Like these guys said, seeing November shedding, I too see this from my perspective as a taxidermist. I always saw body trauma with early shedding. I had a buck shed his buttons in March, his yearling rack in February, his two year old antlers in December, and this years rack in March. I had a five year old that was pretty consistent for a few years, then last year he shed one side January 1st and the other side February 1st. This year he shed both sides together in March. Another five year old shed in April two years ago, late February last year, and still has this years antlers as of today.

I see no correlation between velvet shedding and antler shedding either. They all seem to shed velvet about 2 weeks after their summer coat sheds out, usually around the first of September. Some will skin the velvet off a bit, prematurely, and finish shedding because of this. But like I said, I cant predict when a late shedding buck will go, but I can see poor condition animals shedding early.

Somebody asked if harsh winters makes a difference. Yes, I think so. But to me, harsh isnt cold vs warm. Heavy and prolonged snow cover makes it harsh as they dont find the feed the same way. Really really cold can stress them too, as they use more energy to keep warm. But cold to us is different than cold to deer. Also, unseasonably warm temps can also be tough on deer, as they still have a winter coat.

I learned something from having live deer. I used to think that whatever I saw was the RULE. Now Im starting to realize that what I am seeing only proves one thing...there are many more variables to those rules!

DaveH

My nephew and his wife saw a monster buck last year on my place, that still had both side on Easter Sunday. No wonder I couldn't find them the day before when I was looking specifically for his antlers! I haven't found any yet this year either -- I went looking just last week.