Shed antlers hunting question

[PEAKRUT]

With the mild winter so far here in Wisconsin will these bucks that are left carry longer then they normally would during winter?
Part of my thinking is if they rutted hard then they would drop them earlier especially the older bucks regardless of the winter.

[Redman232]

The mild weather theory makes sense, but it is not what I have observed. From what I can tell, each deer drops in a similar time frame each year.

[purebowhunting]

I agree with Redman, in my experience the same buck will drop at a very similar time each year unless there is a drastic negative change in its health which will make him drop early.

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[Haus86]

There are always a few early shedders. Sometimes they shed early due to stress, and sometimes that's just when an individual buck will shed every year. Last year, there was a nice buck that was shot low in the armpit/leg. He was hurt pretty bad, but he made it to December and shed his antlers very early. Later he ended up getting killed by coyotes. I agree with everyone else that it is usually around the same time every year, but may vary some.

[RidgeReaper]

I've read a lot from Leonard Lee Rue III and he claims that bucks tend to drop antlers according to how much testosterone they used up during the rut. Heavy breeders tend to drop them first and some of the light or non breeders are the ones that carry antlers much longer. I've seen small bucks still carrying headgear into April. Makes pretty good sense to me!

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[bonecollector]

From my experience here in maine harsh winters like last year they all shed by jan3 .this years milld and the same bucks are still carrying jan 30 ..been watching several bucks for about 5 years now same deer on my property and 2 of those years were brutal they were mostly dropped by christmas .in my opinion at least where i live .they deffinitly drop early in harsh conditions ....

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[Hawthorne]

I think in my area most bucks will shed sometime in February with some dropping in January and some in March. Always had my best luck has soon has the snow melts in March. I had a yearling buck one year on cam still carrying in late March. This is in the most southern part of Michigan close to the Ohio Indiana line.

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