Shed Hunting (R1)

Is it time to search for those giant sheds that came off of that buck that you watched all season? Everyone has his theories on the timing of a buck’s antler drop. Some believe that it involves the level of stress in a particular buck’s life. The amount of stress a buck can go through comes from the type of nutrition he has, how involved he was in the rut, the predator influence, or just simply poor weather. Others believe it is more genetic and that many bucks will drop the same week from year to year. Among these theories, smaller tangents erupt such as the belief that larger or older bucks will drop first, or that the actual casting process is painful due to the fact that the pedicle is likely to bleed and scab over. As far as the older bucks dropping first, the stress theory would support that as long as you believe that older bucks rut harder than younger deer. And as far as whether it hurts when a buck drops his antlers, evidence suggests it’s unlikely. I personally believe it is a mix of both the buck’s genetics and the amount of stress that the buck has to overcome. I also believe that if the deer is older and more mature that his antlers will have more growth and would most likely be stronger than a younger deer. Therefor I think that an older deer’s antlers would stay on for a longer time period than a younger deer. On that last note, you should never ignore a fresh spot of blood in the snow. It could just lead you to a wall of tines protruding from the snow pack. This should be around the time that the bucks are starting to drop their antlers so get out there and find them.