How early for sheds?

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

Let me start by saying Merry Christmas to everyone!

Now back to business. I don't deer hunt much. More of a hog, squirrel, and rabbit hunter. I really don't know much about the biology of deer, when they shed, when they rut, what have you.

Today, while out refilling one of my game feeders, I walked up on this shed laying right out in the open below my feeder.  It hasn't been chewed on by any critters, its not bleached out by the sun, it was laying right in the path that I use to go to my feeder every 2 weeks. It can't be from last year. It still has a natural color, and theres even a bit of loose tissue around the base of the antler.

Isn't it a bit early for sheds?  

What are yalls thoughts on this?

Cam

[dougers]

not too early at all!  this is the time of year a lot of deer drop them.  many will keep them for another few weeks though.  it will vary depending on where you are.  actually, im sure there are some biological factors for individual deer that i know nothing about, but would like to hear from some experts.  how can that horn not make you want to get after them?!?!?! wow

[String Tracker]

either way.. nice find shame the match isnt near by

[dougers]

yeah i just came back here to say:  vanilla gorilla, you should wait a few weeks and spend some free time, provided you have some, looking for that other shed.  would make an interesting mount.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

Dougers..

Yeah, I'm gonna head up there tomorrow after I run my trotlines and walk some big circles and try to find the other half of it.

We've had a bad drought this year, and the grass and acorn crop really suffered. I figured due to poor nutrition the antlers may have dropped prematurely. Not sure if that would have an affect or not.

Think I may get a little more serious about deer hunting next fall since I now this fella is hanging around my feeder!

Cam

[Bacote Kid]

April in Texas. I video and get game cam pics every year in March on our place in Central Texas of alotta bucks still sportin' their head gear. Amazing how the Whitetail differs from one part of the country to another ain't it...  

[Hook]

I watched a small buck chasing a doe fawn last week. Grunting all the way, everything looked just like rut activity however the buck had already dropped his antlers. We are getting quite a few dropped antler reports here in Central Illinois already. Kind of bad news in a way with an "Antlerless" only hunt for shotgun scheduled in mid-January.
                                      Jim

[Brian Krebs]

I took a picture in March once in Michigan of some monster bucks bedded by a road; I think if there are does in heat around; the antlers stay on- but that is a guess only.
I see muledeer out here drop their antlers by the first of December; especially if they are small bucks; fork horns- but I did see a forkhorn mulie on the 24th with both antlers.
The bigger bucks seem to hold on to their antlers a little longer- at least when I see bucks in the late hunt in December if a buck has an antler- its a 3 or 4 year old looking buck- and I see a lot of one antlered 4 by nothings and 3 by nothings. At the same time I see big mature mulies with both antlers.... and find equally big drops on the snow..
Not at all sure their is a scientific answer known- but I bet its seated in whether or not their are hot does around.
I saw a guy dress out a fat doe in September near McCall Idaho some years back- it was a whitetail; and had a half formed fawn in it. So that doe had to have come in real late.
I bet the buck that did the job had antlers to show off at the time  
Here in the spring; airplanes fly over the ridges and drop paper markers with sand in them on antlers they spot. Then they radio down to their buddies on the ground.. I try to shed hunt before the planes show up  

[dougers]

who in the world has the time/money to get a plane to mark sheds for them? i read a little bit on this and it goes along with testosterone levels, but each buck drops its antlers near the same time each year, though it may be space way apart from deer to deer.  still though i would think weather/nutrition would play a factor, but i dont know.

[Aeronut]

I see bucks around here every year that still have at least one if not both antlers in the middle of April.

Dennis

[702plmo]

Here in Indiana in mid april a few years back I observed 6 nice bucks with their head gear still on.   They were all together in a crop field.   I watched them two nights in a row.   Normally around here they shed them in Feb/Mar.

Has anyone ever made a antler trap.    You use a corner of a fence row and run some wire about 12 inches off the ground and place some corn underneath the wire and when the bucks feed they are hitting their antlers on the wire and this will knock them off.  
  I had a freind tell me that he has done this in the past with alot of success.   I'm going to try it this year.

[Tom Leemans]

Hook - I know that was a problem in Iowa last January during the doe only, any weapon late season.

A lot depends on the health of the animal. If he's been doing plenty of chasing and breeding, then his body needs to sacrifice something in order to survive the winter. He's spent a lot of energy and hormones. The antlers are the first to go. He doesn't need them so he may as well not feed them. If the winter is mild and he has plenty to eat, he may not lose them until Spring. I just saw two bucks sparring yesterday afternoon. They both had all their head gear yet. It's been a mild December here though with the exception of the beginning of the month. Of course it doesn't get cold here in the midwest until February.
 

[Tree Killer]

Originally posted by Brian Krebs:

Here in the spring; airplanes fly over the ridges and drop paper markers with sand in them on antlers they spot. Then they radio down to their buddies on the ground.. I try to shed hunt before the planes show up    

Where's the thrill in that! Half the fun is finding a shed antler yourself and getting that little rush that comes with seeing it when you walk up to it.

There's some local guys now that are training dog's to go find the shed's for them. Yes, they end up alot of shed's, but it's not like finding that antler yourself! The dog does all the work.  

[fireman_3311]

There are a few, very few, finding sheds here in Mo already...I won't go look until March!

[Jack Shanks]

Got a picture on my trail camera from December 9 of a young eight point buck and another picture of him twelve hours later with one horn. Not all that uncommon to see bucks losing their antlers in mid December here in Michigan.

[Jack Shanks]

702plmo,

I have an antler trap set in my back yard near where I have my trail camera. So far I haven't caught anything though. I put some stakes in the ground in V form then stretch some wire over them. I don't make it too solid so that a buck with solid horns can't easily pull free. In the V I place some corn. Friend of mine caught seven sheds in a single trap like this in one year.

[702plmo]

I am a police officer and last night I worked a deer / car accident.   One antlers broke off above the brow tine due to the impact.     That buck was not ready to shed his antlers or it would have broken off at the base.   The other antler was firmly attatched to the skull.      But on the other hand a buddy of mine saw a very big bodied deer walk under his stand about a week ago.  The deer had two red areas on his head where the antlers were at.   The distance between the two deer is about two miles.

[RightTrailWrongTime]

I found a shed the day after christmas 20 yards behind my stand! I'm heading out this weekend to see if I can find more- heck I thought it was way early but this shed is definately fresh!

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

I have had bucks with bloody pedicles under my tree in mid December, I have seen bucks with hard antlers in April. I don't start really looking untill maybe mid Feb, as most will be down by then. Basically it's just a good excuse for a walk in the woods.
As to the planes?? It is as wonder they haven't gone to GPS's.
Might be a good way to look for open field drops, but agree, It really misses the point of getting out. Great time to do some post season scouting without much worry of moving your deer out of your area as well.

[hunt it]

Isn't nav gas a little expensive these days?? Flying for sheds, that's a new one to me. I kinda like the exercise part of the search and it's a great opportunity to find new stand locations for next season. I have found fresh sheds as early as late December up here.