Interesting Observations

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Z7WIBoy
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Interesting Observations

Unread postby Z7WIBoy » Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:15 am

I was bring my dad home from a heart procedure last week and we got home about 40 minutes before last light and saw a ton of deer walking through the pines off the road. Wow - they look really health - their coats where the winter ones but man they still looked great and no sign of ribs sticking out like last year. That was a refreshing sign.
On the way back home once I got my dad settled in, I was just past Clear Lake when everybody hit the backs - it was snowing pretty good at this point. As we all passed the parked car I noticed a really nice buck laying in the road and to my surprise had had his horns still on - somebody from a truck was walking to the deer and I assume to try and pull off the antlers. Just thought that was pretty late for a buck to still have it horns on - especially a nice racked buck.
Just thought I would share my observations from last week


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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby dan » Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:34 am

Still seeing some around here with antlers too...
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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby Z7WIBoy » Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:15 pm

Dan would say this is extremely late for antlers or have you seen this late before. Others are welcome to comment as well

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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby Southern Man » Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:31 am

Most bucks around here will not drop until late March to early/ mid April. I used to think it was February but not so. Trail cameras show it was much later.

I wonder if there are influences on bucks that make them drop early or late?
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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby PredatorTC » Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:44 am

dan wrote:Still seeing some around here with antlers too...


same here i just got a photo of a 2.5 year old yesterday holding
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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby PLB » Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:59 am

Z7WIBoy wrote:Dan would say this is extremely late for antlers or have you seen this late before. Others are welcome to comment as well

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It's not that unusual in my experience.

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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby Black Squirrel » Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:20 am

I too, have seen them hold their horns till almost April around here.
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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby Swampthing » Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:24 am

I did a little shed hunting last week, kinda now makes me consider throwing up a camera to see if their holding their antlers still. I have been thinking with the mild winter they might be.

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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby moondoondude » Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:30 am

Southern Man wrote:Most bucks around here will not drop until late March to early/ mid April. I used to think it was February but not so. Trail cameras show it was much later.

I wonder if there are influences on bucks that make them drop early or late?


Plenty of influential factors also. Stress, hormonal increases and decreases, weather, deer densities, buck-to-doe ratios, and the availability of food sources are some of the major factors which determine how long a buck will hold onto his antlers.

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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby Bucky » Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:58 am

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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby dan » Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:18 am

I don't think its uncommon for some deer to still have there antlers... In a stress free life bucks will drop there antlers within a couple days of the same date every year. One buck might always drop in late December, and another in the same woods might always drop around the 20th of march.... However, if stress is added to the equation, like a wounded buck, or in deep snow and can't feed, they will drop there antlers sooner. This mild winter has had no stress on the herd so they are holding to there normal release dates...
This is not something I am making up... There are studies both on penned and wild deer that prove this.
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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby gjs4 » Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:29 pm

I live 30 min form the infamous snowy Buffalo, ny. thinking we are around 1/10th of the snow we usually get.....it was 72 degrees on my phone here today..usually St.Pattys is the last snow storm of the year.

Found two sheds this year.....and saw a 3.5 still carrying monday am. Where things are wierd is i saw a dead buck on my road that dropped his antlers (def not cut off) right around new years and all of my dogwood has been browsed heavier than last year and we got 40" of snow in one storm alone.

Bene on here since day one..still dont know how to post pics...but my 5 yo found his first shed this year as we walked on my bday last weekend.....I could probably find a 100" half and it wouldnt mean squat to me after that. May nto make sense of bucks and antler drops....but do know time afield with your family and friends carries the greatest value in my mind
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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby Southern Man » Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:41 am

dan wrote:I don't think its uncommon for some deer to still have there antlers... In a stress free life bucks will drop there antlers within a couple days of the same date every year. One buck might always drop in late December, and another in the same woods might always drop around the 20th of march.... However, if stress is added to the equation, like a wounded buck, or in deep snow and can't feed, they will drop there antlers sooner. This mild winter has had no stress on the herd so they are holding to there normal release dates...
This is not something I am making up... There are studies both on penned and wild deer that prove this.


I have read some of the same stuff and it makes sense.

I've also wondered about the growing season for antlers. It seems most all bucks shed their velvet about the same time. So, if bucks in one area drops their horns a couple months earlier than bucks in another region, their growing season will be longer if they shed velvet around the same time. If that is true (and I don't have any data to support it) they will average bigger sets of antlers. I know that time isn't the only factor in determining size and that doesn't take into consideration food availability, stress, etc. In other words, could general antler size be somewhat tied to growing season? Just a thought.
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Re: Interesting Observations

Unread postby Autumn Ninja » Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:25 am

I seen 3 bucks running together yesterday that still had full racks.

I read a study on this once. As Dan said, bucks in captivity with no stress would drop within a few days of the same date year after year....but that date could be 6-8 weeks apart from one buck to the next.


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