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Antlerless bucks!

G

GOLDTIP

Life Member
I know it's been brought up the last week or so but :)today I actually winessed it myself. Went pheasant hunting today with my dad and we kicked up numerous deer walking draws. I noticed that every buck we saw today had dropped their antlers! I was within 15 yds of two for sure and the bucks we glassed out in the open fields were antlerless also. Just a warning for the guys shotgunnin' this weekend! Be safe and watch for the nubs!! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
Shedding already? Are you sure?? Is this normal? Maybe these "late" antlerless seasons need to be pushed up of possible in the future.
 
I just spoke to my brother up in ND and they have seen several bucks that have already dropped. All my trail cams around central IA still are with antlers, but it looks to be an early shed season.
 
Muddy,
I agree but I can tell you from past experience that there are more this year than in years past. A lot more.
So many more that I am possibly looking at not shooting anymore does unless I can properly identify them as certain.

Just my .02. Everyone just needs to be careful.
 
A friend of mine shot a Buck the Wed of second gun season. He hit it with the first shot, it took 4 or 5 steps and he shot again and as he shot both antlers fell off. At first he thought they had been shot off. But once he found the deer and went back and found the antlers they had just fell off on their own. So some deer are getting close to shedding their racks, which is a bad thing with the antlerless season coming up.
 
Not just antlerless season.... we still have over 3 weeks left of season to shoot bucks.

I'm sure the bucks in North Dakota shed earlier than Iowa bucks anyways. A lot of factors can affect a bucks shedding time. Injuries are usually a major contributor to early shedding. I wouldn't freak out just yet; deer have been living here a long time I find it hard to believe one year they all of a sudden shed their antlers months early.
 
picked up a shed, and had to pass up another shooter mid day today because of half racks. Thats two today. They hit the hay all day today,
 
For whatever reason, there seems to be a lot of bucks shedding already and it doesn't seem to be state or area specific. Who knows though unless someone really kept track of this type of thing.
 
Was out tonight with the smoke pole and jumped about a 165" that was a half rack. Saw five other nonshooters that all had both sides.
 
I think it has to do with stress on the deer from shotgun season. Stress has been known to cause a buck to shed their antlers.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Always a few bucks shedding out early every year. </div></div>

Happens every year. Don't worry, the sky is not falling. 3 months from now, someone will be saying they are still seeing bucks carrying and wondering if that is normal.
 
I know we go through this every year, but I wonder if this year isn't a little different due to the cold temps. Been a long time it seems that it's been this cold in Novermber and December.......maybe that coupled with all the ice on the ground covering a-lot of feeding areas has something to do with bucks shedding earlier than normal??
 
I've been wondering if the buck to doe ratio is finally getting to the point where the bucks are having to fight harder and travel further. This, coupled with the weather, might have them worn down more than usual. Just a thought.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">deer have been living here a long time I find it hard to believe one year they all of a sudden shed their antlers months early.
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Not an expert opinion here by any means, just observations. here in the past 5 yrs two of these yrs bucks haven't really started until february, these 2 yrs were warmer than usual, with less snow than normal. The "normal" winter saw mid Jan as a starting point, and late january to be prime. Last winter was the excepion..2 feet of snow by the end of November, lots of -30 weather, I don't think I saw a buck after late Jan with an antler attached. This yr..more in the same as last yr. I haven't had any time to get out and look but I've talked to a few people including a friend yesterday who picked up 9 on Wednesday around his haystacks, including a 175" 9pt set off a buck he missed with the smokepole. Like i said, not expert opinion, but I believe weather conditions that are more extreme than usual will hurry them up. Time to go this weekend i guess.
 
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