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Bucks losing antlers already

9K views 74 replies 34 participants last post by  beavsteve 
#1 · (Edited)
Surprised not to see this thread started yet. My cousin last week shot what he thought was a hog of a DMAP doe only to see it was a buck that lost its antlers already. This was in Tuscarora state forest.
 
#10 ·
Yeah definitely not a good sign if their shedding this early. That means they are unhealthy, stressed out, or injured.

On the property I hunt they carry their antlers into March and April.

Not wanting to start anything bad with this comment but deer drives in rifle and even bear drives have a huge factor in putting a lot of stress on the deer. This is a big reason why we haven't put on any drives in about 10 years. Overall healthier deer herd because of it.
 
#11 ·
Not wanting to start anything bad with this comment but deer drives in rifle and even bear drives have a huge factor in putting a lot of stress on the deer. This is a big reason why we haven't put on any drives in about 10 years. Overall healthier deer herd because of it.[/QUOTE]

There is no possible way that you could know that not putting drives on results in healthier deer on the property you hunt. Unless no one is hunting the property the deer are getting pushed anyway, they don't know the difference in an organized drive or just someone randomly walking through. These kind of comments are why biologist laugh when hunters think they have the answer to every deer problem.
 
#18 ·
Not wanting to start anything bad with this comment but deer drives in rifle and even bear drives have a huge factor in putting a lot of stress on the deer. This is a big reason why we haven't put on any drives in about 10 years. Overall healthier deer herd because of it.
There is no possible way that you could know that not putting drives on results in healthier deer on the property you hunt. Unless no one is hunting the property the deer are getting pushed anyway, they don't know the difference in an organized drive or just someone randomly walking through. These kind of comments are why biologist laugh when hunters think they have the answer to every deer problem.[/QUOTE]

You really think that's true? You do realize an organized deer drive it is continuously pushing the deer ahead of them non stop. While a quick bump in the woods going into your stand a deer might run a couple hundred yards and then that's that.

Also why do you think I have the answer to every deer problem? I never said that and I sure as heck don't have all the answers.

Stop twisting things please.

Thanks
 
#20 ·
The more balanced a herd is, the more intense rut you can expect. An intense rut, meaning intense competition for does, can lead to nutritionally stressed and run down bucks…thus, the potential for early sheds. In unbalanced herds with more does, the opposite could be expected. The reason being continually cycling does will keep bucks’ testosterone levels higher than normal for a longer period of time, and if you look back at the chart, you can see how that would potentially delay the normal timeframe a buck would cast its antlers.
 
#22 ·
Going back to the 1980s, and I am confident longer than that for those who were hunting long before then, there were always those weird years where guys would shoot a buck, go to drag it, and pull the antler off. Or, shoot a full racked buck and find a dead half rack. Sometimes they could backtrack and find the antler.


Whatever the reason, it ain't new. It ain't from AR, HR, AARP, Saturday openers, deer drives, crossbows, CWD, CBD, ED, semi-automatics, mechanical broadheads, or Russian and Ukranian interference.



It's probably from increased radio waves from cell phones in the woods and logged in to HPA.........
 
#24 ·
You really think that's true? You do realize an organized deer drive it is continuously pushing the deer ahead of them non stop. While a quick bump in the woods going into your stand a deer might run a couple hundred yards and then that's that.

Also why do you think I have the answer to every deer problem? I never said that and I sure as heck don't have all the answers.

Stop twisting things please.

Thanks[/QUOTE]
It has been my experience with driving deer that you will get as many that sit tight or sneak back through your drivers or sneak out the side of your drives as the ones that your standers will see. not many times you will bump the same deer over and over before they figure a way to get around you. Even if they are stressed by driving, how do you know that it contributes to them being less healthy. not trying to be an a-- but i am willing to learn if you know something i don't know.

I never said that YOU had the answer to every deer problem, i said that HUNTERS think they have all the answers.
The problem is that hunters only see what happens in their small area that they hunt and think that the rest of the world is the same as the 40 acres that they hunt.
 
#26 ·
You really think that's true? You do realize an organized deer drive it is continuously pushing the deer ahead of them non stop. While a quick bump in the woods going into your stand a deer might run a couple hundred yards and then that's that.

Also why do you think I have the answer to every deer problem? I never said that and I sure as heck don't have all the answers.

Stop twisting things please.

Thanks
It has been my experience with driving deer that you will get as many that sit tight or sneak back through your drivers or sneak out the side of your drives as the ones that your standers will see. not many times you will bump the same deer over and over before they figure a way to get around you. Even if they are stressed by driving, how do you know that it contributes to them being less healthy. not trying to be an a-- but i am willing to learn if you know something i don't know.

I never said that YOU had the answer to every deer problem, i said that HUNTERS think they have all the answers.
The problem is that hunters only see what happens in their small area that they hunt and think that the rest of the world is the same as the 40 acres that they hunt.[/QUOTE]

We're close with our neighbors. We own 300 acres they own about 1,000 acres and our deer hold on to their antlers every year until March or April. I will say I think it's the combination of the rut followed immediately by rifle season and the added pressure of it that affects the deer a lot. Testosterone is probably dropping in rifle and then the added stress of all the people invading their home I'm sure doesn't help.

Maybe I'm wrong. Good to have a nice conversation about it though. I appreciate you clarifying.
 
#27 ·
So I’ve done some reading up on this last couple days. It seems the two main reasons for early shedding are either poor nutrition or injuries sustained during the rut. It also varies by region, northern deer shed earlier. If bucks are retaining their antlers well into March and April, it is generally a sign of an imbalance in buck to doe ratio. Does that are not bred will come back into estrus. This keeps testosterone levels elevated in the bucks, and they won’t shed until the levels decrease.
 
#34 ·
Too many does mean that they won’t all get bred on their first or even second cycles. Add in yearling does coming into estrus later and you have a longer, more drawn out breeding season that puts more stress on bucks. Do their testosterone levels remain higher? Sure, but nature has a way of telling a buck when he’s had enough. If he is run ragged from chasing and getting pushed, injuries sustain during the rut, and poor nutrition he is going to lose his antlers as a way of telling him to STOP or he will die, and some do.

I’m not completely doubting that a more balanced sex ratio may contribute to dropping testosterone levels and thus dropping antlers earlier, but look no further than some of the most well managed and maintained properties in the Midwest and they have large mature bucks holding their antlers into the middle of January, at least. Why? Because of how healthy the deer are on those properties. When the main part of the rut winds down and the bucks need to find nutrition to replenish themselves before winter hits, they have it at their disposal and can quickly get themselves back in shape. In the big woods of NC PA, on years with poor mast crops, those bucks are screwed, and early cold and snow really puts a hurting on them.
 
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