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?

Who can tell? I shot a large bodied doe the first day of rifle once in PA. It turned out to be a shed buck. There was snow down and it had been really cold. Other years I saw deer with antlers into March. I don't know what causes it. I do believe that some will "Freeze off" if it gets too cold. I shot a large doe in the extended special regs season (Sometime between Christmas and New Years) and it was also a shed buck. This deer had a bullet wound and massive infection going on. The first buck mentioned was really rutted out and thin. Could be it has to do with the health of the deer?

We found a few sheds while rabbit hunting in Central VA a couple weeks ago. I think a lot of bucks will shed early this year b/c mast production/nutrition was low. JMO

I follow along with the idea that the shedding "time" can & will be influenced by the food sources available (not?) and how quickly severe weather moves in. I feel your pain tho, trying to be smart about when to make your last hunts work and finding it may not have worked as you hoped.