2024 Sheds

With such a warm Christmas this year,
it makes me wonder how warm weather will affect antler shedding this year.
What influences or triggers antler shedding?
Does severely cold weather deplete minerals faster and cause early shedding?
If so, would the opposite (little or no severe cold) support antler retention?

I encountered two bucks in Iowa last week that had already shed (not broken). I am sure the stressors of the rut contribute. I shot a buck 3 years ago that lost one side after the shot. Had no fat content and was very old. Long answer, I don’t know

I don’t think the weather has much effect other than the stress factor.
Tough, snowy, cold winters seem to make em drop sooner.

Condition of the deer has a lot to do with it. The better their health, the longer they stick on their head.
The amount daylight too. Different chemicals are released as the days get longer which triggers them to drop off.
Bucks that had a hard rut sometimes drop sooner but again, that’s the condition of the deer.

I will say one thing Haleysgold it is going to even be harder finding that needle in the haystack in the woods this year! The deer are still so spread out compared to years past. The walking begins January 6th!

Down here in Iowa, deer are dropping. My brother shot a nice 10 point late season a couple days ago and both antlers fell off at impact. when he found it they were both laying next to the deer.

I have to say I love seeing shed season being discussed already!

I jumped a 8 last night walking into a coyote stand, and he only had one side( may have been busted, tough to tell). I’ve always heard it’s the drop in testosterone after the rut that triggers the start of antler shedding. I think stress and the health of bucks after the rut definitely influences the timing of antlers actually hitting the ground. However it seems like every year people start seeing a couple shed bucks in late december and they start to question timing. In the end the majority of deer drop headgear in the same time frame every year.

One thing is for sure, unless we get a pile of snow and cold soon it’s going to take some extra miles to find numbers of antlers this year. Like Jimmy said the deer are spread out. Some of the fields that would normally be loaded with deer this time of year have been nearly vacant.

I’ve read that it’s mainly tied to the short daylight hours. I also heard talk last year that all the snowpack, which led to struggles to move as well as food sources being buried, could stress a deer out enough that they might shed sooner.

Anyway….timely thread because I just thought yesterday with how nice it was that I wish I could be walking around looking for them right now, no snow to cover them up or blend them in.

My target in WI seems to have either disappeared, or lost his head gear. Have pictures of non antlered deer now where I wasn’t getting them before

Dang, dropping in December. I’m usually thinking about a third round of rutting in December.

The dog brought this back on todays walk. We were running low on light so I didn’t get to go look for the match. I’ve seen quite a few bucks on our walks over the last week, and all were carrying still. Definitely too early to really get after it, but it’s good to break the ice early.

Nice find hh. Hope the dog was rewarded for his/her hard work.

1st shed of this year for me.

I’ve seen a couple lately with 1 side or just scabs on their head.

Hmm. It won’t let me post the picture. Will try later I guess

haleysgold wrote:

1st shed of this year for me.

I’ve seen a couple lately with 1 side or just scabs on their head.

From the deck or did you actually get out in those mountainous hills and of yours and walk around some? lol Guy of your years should be careful out in the woods especially if you want to go elk hunting this fall. Or is this prep for the fall?

Hey JJ! Good to see you’re sharp as ever!

The dog and I needed a wheeler ride. Probably not a good idea. MUDDY!
The wheeler was full of mud, the dog was a muddy mess and I got off the sxs to pick up the shed and had 10 lbs of muddy boots!
Good gawd it’s a sloppy mess out there!

Would love to do an Elk hunt but don’t see it in the cards for this year. 1 year to retirement and then maybe have the time to put in. Hopefully I don’t croak before then!

Still can’t post the dam pic. Too large I think. Have to work on getting it shrunk.

Here goes nothing.
Maybe this will work?

Made a Quick 45 minute trip out in some CRP type stuff on Saturday and came up with these 3.

Still seeing a lot of bucks on the hoof with both sides so I’m not hitting it too hard yet.

I’ve got multiple bucks still holding in NW MN.
DT

Nice finds! Critter didn’t waste any time chewing that middle one down!

DT, My neighbor and I still have every buck we know of wearing both antlers yet in central mn.

Nice work finding a few Haleys! It’s seemed like a slow year so far for me with only a couple fresh ones and a couple old ones. I’ll be starting to walk on private this weekend so hopefully things will pick up. I did run into a guy on public this weekend carrying a very nice 5 point side along with a couple other small ones. There’s alot of competition out there with the nice weather, but it is good to see people having some luck.

Me and the dog put on a lot of miles in the fields this weekend and here are the rewards. I’m still seeing a lot of bucks with both sides so I’m still staying out of the woods for another week or two.

Thats awesome HH!

did you train your pooch to find them or do some dogs just know how to find em?

I trained him. Biggest thing is getting a dog interested in antlers. I got lucky and my dog was obsessed since day one. I know a couple people that tried to train their dogs for shed hunting, and they could never get their pups interested in antlers. Watching a dog work a field of corn stubble is great entertainment when you’re not finding a bunch of antlers!

Maybe that could be a good test when picking a pup out of a litter. Take a shed with you and see which one(s) are interested in it.

Nice score HH.
I see you found one of them really dark ones. I wonder why some are like that? Rubbing on pine trees?

2 bucks came out in the food plot last night with blood running down the side of their heads and fresh scabs. Had to have just dropped their head gear. Their posture showed they were not happy and probably had a big time headache.

Cool watching them come out with their ears laid back and go right for 1 that was still holding. The buck still holding its rack wasn’t impressed and even though the approaching bucks were in aggressive mode, they clearly wanted nothing to do with him.

The dark one is a little strange. It looks more like dirt stuck to the antler than it does normal dark staining, but it doesn’t wash off. I’m not sure what that deer got into.

I’ve always heard that the dark pigment is from the minerals in their diet. The darker the antler the more nutrition they’re getting.

Caught 2 trespassers and a lab out shed hunting the farm last night. They played stupid pretty good. Claimed to not see one of the 400 no trespassing signs I hung. We haven’t found any sheds yet but I’m still seeing the bucks wearing the head gear

Just stumbled upon this on a quick nature walk

Nice find BC!

mxskeeter wrote:

Nice find BC!

Thank you. It was pretty lucky find. 90 percent buried under the snow. Buddy and I were out trying to get his new dog interested in antlers. The dog sniffed it and kept moving, circled back and sniffed it again then I noticed the main beam exposed from the snow.