Always an interesting topic for me. Some bucks have already shed their antlers around here and a buddy mistakenly shot a shed buck that he thought was a doe with a muzzleloader Sunday. Been taking late winter deer counts and notes in Ohio for years, and from personal observation and what gathered - aside from the health of the animal, shed timing is individual and personally believe it is genetics. Haven't been able to find that in writing anywhere and not a lot of scientific info on the subject I could find, but it’s been written and confirmed by deerfarmers that “healthy” bucks shed within a couple days of the same date year after year. Size of the antler doesn't seem to matter either. Of course, wounds, bad health or stress can alter the timing.
Normal conditions in my area, a few will shed in late December, although a few may carry into or through April, (once seen full blown rutting activity by a racked buck on April 13th) but the peak casting time here is around mid-February thru mid March.
Most regrowth begins in late April or May, and throughout the summer, individual bucks can be seen at different stages of development at the same time.
Topic: When do your bucks shed? (Read 767 times)
