What makes sheds hit the ground?
#1DEER 1-I
1/12/08 1:26pm
What are some of the main causes that deer shed there antlers when they do? I have found a few browns this early in the year before but only 2 or 3 in a long time of hunting them, when would you say is the prime time to go out for big bucks sheds?
3,028
"The antler growth will stop shortly before they begin to shed the velvet (time varies slightly but usually with a handful of days to a couple weeks). An internal signal based on testoterone fluctuations will cause the blood vessels within the velvet to constrict. This will in turn begin to "kill" the velvet and put the brakes on any antler growth. Again, the antlers will actually stop growing and begin to solidy even before the velvet is completely dead (Once the blood flow lessens to a certain point the antlers can no longer grow). At this point the bull or buck will begin to "shed" the velvet...or more appropriately "scrape it off on anything and everything they can". The reason you still get the blood during the shedding process is because the velvet still has enough blood flow to "bleed" during the process...just not near as much as you would find during the growth stage.
The timing of the velvet shed will vary from animal to animal depending on maturity. Generally speaking, the younger males and older "past-thier-prime" males will shed the velvet last while the mature, breeding age animals will generally be the first. This is also why you get your "cactus bucks". For one reason or another thier testosterone fluctuations are messed up and they never get that internal "signal" to stop growing and begin shedding.
As for the coloring, this is caused by a number of factors. Blood is always part of the coloring process. The second is the type of vegetation that the buck or bull rubs on and the color of soil in the region. As a buck rubs on various types of brush, trees, and shrubs it helps to stain the antlers. I have also read that some say that exposure to sunlight can/does have an effect on coloring (lighter antlers in areas where the animal is exposed to more sunlight, darker in more dense areas). This is why most bucks and bulls from the same general location will have like-colored antlers. This is also why most antlers are fairly pale looking when they first begin to shed the velvet.
Some studies suggest that the velvet shed is triggered by nothing more than the overall health of the buck. However, I think the process is the same, just a slightly different way of lookin' at it. After all, a buck that is past his prime and on the downhill side of life is generally not as healthy as a buck around the 4-6 year old mark, right?"
Seen one 2 point with one side. Seen a monster 3x4, 5x5, and many others in between still packing both.
They are getting close.
Wooo Hoo :)