Last season I found an area I call "Deer Heaven" and even saw some deer there. What I also found were quite a few shed antlers.
I want to go back and pick up this year's bunch of shed antlers, but I don't know when they knock them off. Winter, spring, when?
These are Southern California Mule Deer.
When do the deer shed their antlers?
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El Chivo
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When do the deer shed their antlers?
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PPpastordon
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sobenk;
Here in Indiana it seems to start in January. I know it was around this time of year that I found a good pair of antlers just a couple of feet from each other. Others have told me this is the time of year they have also found sheds.
Grace and Peace.
Here in Indiana it seems to start in January. I know it was around this time of year that I found a good pair of antlers just a couple of feet from each other. Others have told me this is the time of year they have also found sheds.
Grace and Peace.
Pastordon
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Gobblerforge
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They should be dropping right now. After the rut is over, and it is, and after the does that were going to breed had bread, and they have, then the antlers are of no use to the buck. They shed them so they don't have to haul the weight through the winter. Though some will drop earlier and some later, now is a good time. If you have snow, wait for the first point that the snow melts off, then go looking. They will be on top of everything, not under it, and nice white against the brown surroundings. Mice eat them, I believe for the calcium. First come, first serve.
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bigbore442001
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A fella in my hunting party, a friend of my son, arrowed a deer yesterday afternoon/evening in the woods next to his back yard, here in Southern New England.
When he retreived it, he saw that it was a buck, that had the raw spots on it's head from shedding antlers.
There's no telling what the rack was, but he weighed 140lbs, field dressed.(the deer
)
When he retreived it, he saw that it was a buck, that had the raw spots on it's head from shedding antlers.
There's no telling what the rack was, but he weighed 140lbs, field dressed.(the deer
)Here in Oregon, most of the antlers are on the ground by mid-March. A few bucks keep them longer, but they are normally not too healthy.
One buck gave me his antlers at my feeder a few years ago right around Christmas--five days between the drop of his two antlers. I would search the property each day after he gave me the first one. Couldn't find the second one! But that's because it was still on his head. He dropped it the fifth day, right in the feeder.
Last week, two forked horns were sparring in the yard, antlers engaged, pushing their weight against each other. Every few days I walk out to my archery target--deer manikin--and put its antlers back on its head. One of my bucks around here does not think highly of my target! At night, the buck lets my target know who is boss.
I've seen one old buck with antlers in late April or May--memory is faulty. It was late enough in the Spring that I was supposed to remember the date forever--yeah, good luck there!
Bucks do not knock them off. They fall off--and only when they are ready. Chondroclastic ossification at the union of the pedicel and antler base determines the dropping of the antler, not a bump against a branch.
You might find some now, but you'd likely find more in the area if you wait another month.
So far, it is still up in the air as to why bucks drop their antlers when they still should retain them. Some believe they are used as status symbols, displaying to other bucks their prowess in order to show dominance for breeding without having to expend energy fighting, and without having to chance injury to their bodies.
Some say they are weapons against predators--cougars especially--but that doesn't fit the picture when the cougars are hungry in late Winter, and the bucks are antlerless.
No one has yet to figure out the mystery.
But they have grown antlers on mice!
Heck. When I go off my rocker, I'm going in for antler implants. Very Macho! (And then my wife will have a clue as to when I'm really horny!)
One buck gave me his antlers at my feeder a few years ago right around Christmas--five days between the drop of his two antlers. I would search the property each day after he gave me the first one. Couldn't find the second one! But that's because it was still on his head. He dropped it the fifth day, right in the feeder.
Last week, two forked horns were sparring in the yard, antlers engaged, pushing their weight against each other. Every few days I walk out to my archery target--deer manikin--and put its antlers back on its head. One of my bucks around here does not think highly of my target! At night, the buck lets my target know who is boss.
I've seen one old buck with antlers in late April or May--memory is faulty. It was late enough in the Spring that I was supposed to remember the date forever--yeah, good luck there!
Bucks do not knock them off. They fall off--and only when they are ready. Chondroclastic ossification at the union of the pedicel and antler base determines the dropping of the antler, not a bump against a branch.
You might find some now, but you'd likely find more in the area if you wait another month.
So far, it is still up in the air as to why bucks drop their antlers when they still should retain them. Some believe they are used as status symbols, displaying to other bucks their prowess in order to show dominance for breeding without having to expend energy fighting, and without having to chance injury to their bodies.
Some say they are weapons against predators--cougars especially--but that doesn't fit the picture when the cougars are hungry in late Winter, and the bucks are antlerless.
No one has yet to figure out the mystery.
But they have grown antlers on mice!
Heck. When I go off my rocker, I'm going in for antler implants. Very Macho! (And then my wife will have a clue as to when I'm really horny!)