Antlers Falling off Already

[WNY Bowhunter]

I currently have one yearling half rack on my cams...

[phade]

I picked up a handful of bucks shed at the end of the first week in dec and start of second week on my cams. all 1.5s. I have picked up a 2.5 yr old shed in mz season.

no idea what or how long it takes stress to cause the drops. I would think the more active rut bucks would drop first but thats not likely true. I do know the dropping or the chemical or hormone change happens fast...so the body could respond fast to drop them.

Edited January 5, 2014 by phade

[upstate]

Today in Ithaca 

 

Still going strong. 

 

This is on Cornell property, he'll die of old age or a venereal disease. 

 

 

 

[wooly]

Here in NY,  it's not uncommon (also read as: "not common") to start finding early dropped antlers any time in December. This is still typically considered a very poor time to start searching for them as there are generally not that many fresh antlers laying around at this time, but a few bucks tend to drop at this time every year.  There's many theories, and even more variables that determine annual shedding dates that will make you crazy if you're trying to plan your early season shed hunt around when most bucks have dropped.
 After the rut,  testosterone levels in bucks drop, which triggers other chemical changes in a whitetail, that eventually lead to his pedicals deteriorating and his horns falling off. That's the most basic explanation I can come up with from a non-scientific stand point.
What I do have a better understanding of is other environmental influences that also have an affect on shedding. A few examples include, extreme or abnormal weather for the area.. quality and abundance of food.., a bucks physical condition.., intensity of the rut., and even out of whack buck to doe ratios. Basicaly, any one of these, or any combination, or most likely all of the above play a role in when your bucks will shed. The more stressers you add to the equation, the more likely it will affect drop time. Unfortunately there's still no hard fast rule bucks will all shed at the same time. Even with all these influences being equal, some bucks will still hold onto this years antlers well into March or April on the late side of the spectrum. Finding these late drop antlers before spring green up becomes the biggest challenge, and it's sad for me to say, but some antlers will be left behind for another year. These are the horns I'm really looking for when I start my early season shed hunting trips into areas I didn't get the chance to cover thoroughly where bucks were still packing.
In a nutshell, there's no better indicator than first hand sightings of bucks who have lost one or both antlers. Do your best to observe your resident bucks via trail cams, night time spotlighting fields around the block, or any other encounters you have this time of year while in the deer woods.