Found me a 4pt Today (pics)

[Wyodeerhunter]

Hey all,
Went out in the hills this morning to look at a few bucks. Here is the first buck I saw:

He was pretty far away but looked pretty nice:

After watching the buck for awhile I was shocked when I saw him shake his head and his left antler fell off! I have never seen a buck shed so early! The bucks in this part of WY usually do not shed till end of Feb. After the buck went over the hill I raced up the hill to get my christmas "gift".

Here it is as I found it:

I have never see a buck shed in real life and was very shocked to see it happen. It was defiently a once in a lifetime thing for me!

I went over the hill to where the buck disappeared and noticed he met up with 15-20 other deer. As they fed up the draw he lost his other antler when I wasn't paying attention. I didn't go down there to get it as I didn't want to spook all of the deer out of the draw. Its been a very mild winter but I still didn't feel like pushing them just for an antler. I will go back in a week to get it.

Here are a couple other bucks I saw this morning:

Thanks for lookin' and Merry Christmas!

Ernesto

 

[mtmiller]

Very cool Ernesto. Thanks for the share.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Nice Job Ernesto and a nice Christmas gift he gave ya.

 

[Oak]

Wow, it sure is early. I had heard rumors of them shedding but didn't believe it. Nice looking buck, too.

Oak

 

[BOHNTR]

Nice photos as usual Ernesto.....Hard to think of muleys shedding already....especially since I'm leaving for my desert archery rut hunt next week in Arizona. Nice find!

 

[hornaddiction]

Cool pics, thanks for sharing!!

 

[Larry Landgren]

Cool pics and a cool story.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Thanks for the story and pics. That's a good sign when they drop their horns this early.

 

[mtmiller]

That's a good sign when they drop their horns this early.

Enlighten me.

 

[Erik in AK]

They start regrowing earlier which aligns the key antler growth months with the wetter part of spring is my guess.

 

[TheTone]

Great pics Ernesto and congrats on a terribly fresh shed.

 

[WestND]

Very neat!

 

[browtine]

You dog!!!! Thats a great shed man... Thanks for setting the example and not pushing the deer.. Its takes good patience to do the right thing.. I commend you for that..

There arent to many Utards that would let a shed off a 180-190 buck sit on the ground for a week. (or for 30 minutes)

 

[Brad]

That's great...

 

[mtmiller]

I don't know the answer, so maybe I can get some thoughts from you guys. I have heard that deer shed early if the herd is going into the winter in poor condion. Not sure if I buy that since I don't think there is much energy expenditure on bone that does not require nourishment.

Eric mentioned the early drop starts and early growth. I think antler growth is more dependant on photoperiod and not when the shedding occurred?

Maybe some deer shed early and others shed late? I have seen whiteys packing antlers during the middle of April (couple times anyway).

What do you guys think? Enlighten me. No wrong answers, just looking for some thoughts.

 

[Oak]

I don't have the answer either, but I think it's just a case of individual deer shedding at different times. I do believe that new antler growth is tied to photoperiod, therefore it wouldn't necessarily mean better antler growth next year. I saw two 4-point muleys several years ago packing both antlers on April 5.

 

[TheTone]

I've always heard that early shedding is due to stress, winter conditions etc. That said I've seen lots of pictures of fresh sheds on the net this winter, lots more than normal for this time of year. Its almost enough to get me out looking. Most of the deer right close to where I live don't drop until late March or April. I did see a muley buck two years ago still packing one side in early May.

 

[twister50]

Congrats...Great looking shed..

 

[ZAMBONIMAN]

Just wanted to say that my father-in-law shot a buck with his muzzleloader on December 7th that had already shed his antlers. On the left side the blood had already dried and the right side was still bloody when he was on the ground dead. I should mention too that when we cut him up he had absolutely no fat on him at all, I'm guessing this was from running does during the rut, so could this cause him to drop his antlers early? I'm no biologist, but I too think this is very early to drop. I live right on the shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota and early in December we had very little snow on the ground, but now we have three plus feet of it, and there are still bucks running around here in town that still have their antlers. I just wanted to throw out another story about dropped antlers from this year from my neck of the woods...

 

[BrianID]

I'm not sure if it is completely true but here are a few things that I have heard.

Deer drop antlers early if they are in poor physical condition. Poor physical condition could be caused by over working themselves during the rut or just not enough food for them in the area. Deer will hold onto antlers longer if they are in good physical shape.

I've also read that there is evidence that suggests increased testosterone levels are correlated with bucks holding onto antlers longer. If all the does in the area were bread during their first estrus then the bucks testosterone levels will decrease and the bucks will drop their antlers earlier.

If anyone else has some ideas on what will cause a deer to hold onto their antlers or drop them early I would like to here about it.