Antlers Falling off Already

[noodle one]

I saw on another hunting site in PA. That some people who have shot  bucks have gone up to the down deer only to find one side had come off with the antler on the ground next to the deer. When they took hold of the other antler to drag the deer out the other antler came off. One guy shot a 8 point and the other was a 10 point. There has been reports of others finding the same. One guy said that he had heard that it was happening in NY state also. Has anyone heard of this in your part of the state? I haven't heard of any myself

[letinmfly]

I met a hunter in a taxidermy shop a few years back that had this happen to him.  He shot a big 8 pointer in Columbia county and watched the buck run off and go down in the distance.  He walked directly to the deer and when he got there the deer had no antlers.  Luckily there was a bit of snow on the ground and he was able to back track the buck's path and found both antlers.

[wooly]

Picked up a nice fresh 8pt match set last year on December 12'th.

Always seems to be a few that dump the headgear before the new calander year.

[G-Man]

Earliest I've found sheds is Jan 4the, but I have shot bucks who had lost antlers in muzzloader season...

[Lawdwaz]

http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/20418-their-fallen-off-already/

[Doc]

So that's how they pull off that disappearing act. They have learned how to shed their antlers for self-protection.

[yohee543]

I actually shot an 8 point last night after work. It died in a creekbed and as I grabbed the antlers to pull it out of the water, both antlers came off in my hands. I live in McKean County, PA....right along the New York state border.

[Big Indian]

I have been seeing a nice high spike prob 8" each  on my camera for a good while

 

Last week (day before Thanksgiving) he only had one side and I was surprised. 

[wooly]

Love hearing all this chatter about shed antlers already!

I've been doing some light hiking since the end of November but nothing besides a dead one so far.

[mbucks27]

cant wait to get out there myself wooly. I was hoping to tag out last weekend so i could spend my two weeks off during christmas and new years shed hunting but that didn't happen lol so i will continue to hunt till Dec 31st.

 

John

[blackradio]

Excited to hike around the woods without worrying about scaring the deer. I'll be out small game hunting after deer season ASAP

[newbreed]

i posted this in another thread....

 

didnt read through all the posts, but my father shot a buck last tuesday Nov. 26th. only had one antler, other looked like it had been shed, i was talking to a buddy of mine he said look for wounds....sure enough he had an infected wound behind his ear, most likely from fighting, so im pretty sure thats what caused him to shed that one antler. they will shed them if they wounded or not getting good neutrition to save on there enegry. also we had trail cam pics of the buck from a couple weeks before my father shot him.

 

[newbreed]

i might add the wound wasnt found till my buddy was done skinning the deer, he needed to cape for a mount he was doing. 

Edited December 4, 2013 by newbreed

[yohee543]

I actually just ran into a WCO and told him about my buck that I had previously posted about. He informed me that it is more common than one might think for bucks to lose their antlers this early. He indicated that this was likely due to a couple of factors......the relatively poor acorn/mast crop in this area and the fact that these bucks essentially burn every ounce of nutrients throughout the rut. I looked my buck over very well and there were not any wounds other than the wound that I inflicted. It appeared to be a very healthy, large deer.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Found yesterday, 1st for this year.  Hunting for deer and sheds all at once!

Edited December 4, 2013 by landtracdeerhunter

[Meat Manager]

I wonder if the lonely baldy that walked right up to my bag of scents at the base of my tree at 6:45am this morning was a naked buck? It sure wasn't acting like a doe.

Long body like a 1.5-2.5 buck....could have been a giant button I guess, but I was really looking for bone.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited December 4, 2013 by Meat Manager

[vizslas]

buck spotted still had horns. Niagara county.

 

[landtracdeerhunter]

buck spotted still had horns. Niagara county.

 

Yeah, son was telling me, he had several deer cross in front of his vehicle on NYD. Three were antlered bucks, one of which was so fat, he waddled his way back behind the pack. Darn near had more venison, the hard way.

 

[mbucks27]

Same here wooly. A lot of snow and bucks still carrying but I did see two shed bucks they other day so some of then have dropped. Heading out tomorrow with hopes to find something.

John

[mbucks27]

Sorry wrong thread lol

John

[timesly]

Like to see and hear what other shed hunters are finding and when found. With such a bad acorn crop failure here in Pa. this year I expect more than normal shed dropping to occur earlier that usual.

 

Seems there are now wides spread reports of early shedding taking place in both Pa. and New york state. Even in Maryland. So the season has begun.

 

Good luck to all! Glad to become a registered member on here.

 

Had many fine hunting adventures in New York State in my lifetime. Especially in the Adirondack Mountains. I will never forget any of them. Wilderness backpack hunts for 10 to 12 days at a time in my younger days. I love upstate New York.

[Ford]

I may be wrong, but is this year a little different?

 

Seem to remember people saying bucks were holding on to them a while longer in the past few years. Seen bucks very late with headgear on. Not much opportunity to observe this year...Darn work..

[Doc]

I have heard of bucks losing antlers in mid December, and I have personally seen antlered deer as late as March. With a natural span of that length of time, it would have to be very difficult to spot any kinds of new trends in any single year.

 

Has anybody ever read anything on what causes the antler to fall off, and what factors effect that?

[phade]

stress causing antlers to drop earlier...and thats given with our earlier than normal cold snowy winter thus far.

the body signals to drop antlers with a change in hormones once the body starts to become stressed more than normal. I wouldnt think this would happen as the antlers are not being fed blood and nutrients but there has to be some biological benefit or damage limitation by them being one of the earliest casualties of stress.

[First-light]

phade, do you think after the stress it takes a week or so or does the antler fall off immediately?