# When do bucks usually shed their antlers ???



## tcba1987

i had to ask this question, because last year i shot a big bodied doe, i thought until i lifted her legs to gut her out and got a big surprise, LOL. it was a buck that had already shed his antlers, they were gone right against the skull with no sign of being BROKEN off at all.


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## bkr43050

"Normally" they will shed them some time in February but there are always those exceptions. Perhaps the deer that you shot suffered some sort of injury that caused a hormonal change. The antlers will dry up and shed once the hormone levels decrease. That usually will happen after all of the breeding has ceased.


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## tcba1987

thanks BKR man you really know your stuff, i really appreciate the QUICK response !!! i didnt see any wounds on the deer or anything but the meat processor skinned him for me so there couldda been a old wound im sure !!


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## catfish_hunter

I checked in alot of deer last year where I work, and during muzzleloader season and the late bow season I had about 5-8 bucks with either one side or both missing...


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## bkr43050

I think I saw in another thread where you mentioned that this deer was during muzzleloader season? If so then that could be simply that he was started to lose them in his normal process. As Catfish_hunter mentioned there are always some that get shot during the muzzleloader season that have dropped them. However, the majority of them will not lose them until a good while beyond that muzzleoader season.


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## crappiedude

I've found fresh sheds in late December a few years ago and I've also seen a buck still with antlers in late march so there really isn't a definite time but from my obsevations its mostly in January. The last few years, maybe 5 or 6, my group has really noticed alot more mature bucks in early January. I've always wondered if the mature buks carried their antlers longer than the younger bucks, I can honestly say I've never seen a small buck late in January.


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## Lundy

I've seen them losing them in December and still with full sets as late as march.

Long read, sorry.

This is from Purdue University


The 23 degree tilt of the Earth¹s axis is the ultimate 
cause for the annual cycles in deer antlers. This tilt is what causes 
Earth's annually recurring seasons. Deer have adapted their physiology and 
behavior to these seasonal changes, including antler growth. The 
environmental cue that regulates antler growth is the amount of day 
length, or photoperiod. 


The physiological cue is the male hormone testosterone. The way this works 
is complicated, but changing day lengths are sensed by the eyes, which 
send this message, via the optic nerve, to the pineal gland. The pineal 
gland - a pea-sized organ at the base of the brain - produces many 
different hormones. One hormone produced is luteinizing hormone, which 
controls the amount of testoserone produced in the testes. 


The antler cycle lags behind the changes in day length because the 
hormonal changes take time. During fall, decreasing day lengths cause 
melatonin production to increase, resulting in decreased production of 
both luteinizing hormone and testosterone. Decreasing testosterone levels 
then cause the antlers to shed. 


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.


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## jiggin'fool

yeah I saw some late january with full headgear... and seen them when I am scouting for turkey season in march with half rack! good post lundy!


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## wave warrior

exellent post Lundy!!!!!!!!!!!!  :!


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## LEADOFFMAN

Here's a rack I found in 2000 of a urban deer that used a opening in a fence row. The right side, 14 points with 1 broken, looking at the photo, was found on Jan. 5th. The left side, 7 with 2 broken, was found 5 weeks later, to the day, stuck in the fence. The fence caused both to fall off. You can do the same at your feeders by placeing fenceing or a wire, around the bottom of the feeder. It should be place at a heighth that makes the deer have to reach under the fenceing to get to the food. I've never had it scored, yet. I seen him 4 times during bow season but never got a shot at him. He lived in southern Delaware co. Now there are rows of houses where he used to roam!!! Progress? He was the 2nd. biggest deer I've ever seen in the wild.


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## hillbillybelownewphilly

Leadoffman, those are some nice sheds!


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## Fish-N-Fool

I've seen younger bucks get a side smacked off clean at the skull (not broken) from getting too confident near a mature deer during rut. Big deer will horse those 1.5 year olds around, but the young ones typically run long before an actual physical encounter, but not always


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