Bucks dropping antlers now??

[mrducks]

We have had some strange activity lately... Been finding sheds over the last 2 weeks... Not that odd, but still makes you say "hmm"... Then on Friday, one hunter sees a buck with one antler... again, not that strange, "I guess hes been fighting". But then, for the grand finale, on Saturday, a hunter shot a "huge doe" then when he walked up to it it was actually a buck that had dropped both antlers. Is this strange? I have never noticed the deer dropping their antlers this early. I am curious about yalls experience.

[peewee]

It is pretty common actually. I can remember this type of stuff happening for the last ten years.

[huntersmky]

Never understood why people shoot does past Christmas. We take all of our does between Oct. 1 and November 24 and we try to harvest all of them with our bows. by shooting them this late, you are taking away your future deer herd if the does have already been bred. I guess not everyone is managing their deer herd like we try to though.

[JLT]

I don't see where it hurts to kill them now. Same end result as shooting them early. Either way you are taking a doe that should have a fawn. All I can see is wasted buck effort and I'm sure he doesn't mind;)

[mrducks]

Yes we try to shoot as many as we can before Christmas. And only shoot 4 1/2 year old bucks or older. 10 days ago we took a picture of 26 deer in a plot. That group consisted of 25 does and one buck. for us, the "dont kill does after Christmas" plan doesn't cover our needs. We can certainly spare more does, even if they're pregnant. We would actually need to shoot em year round to keep them in check. It was unfortunate to kill a buck and the hunter was devastated. We have never seen them drop this early so it was a big surprise. Hence the reason for this post regarding early antler shedding. I found this article on QDMA. Very informative. We are in the delta and have been largely flooded since Christmas so it makes more sense now.
http://www.qdma.com/articles/causes-of- ... er-casting

[huntersmky]

[SWAG]

[CBrown]

Nope SWAG, you nailed it. Besides acccidentally shooting a buck, I have never understood why people who are wanting to thin does stop at Christmas.

[redspeckable]

Same boat your in MRDUCKS. I too like to shoot ours early, but we have to shoot them early and often to keep numbers in check. I had a buddy shoot "a huge doe" Sat afternoon that turned out to be a 3 and 1/2 year old buck that had already shed. Disappointing to say the least. We might just up the doe killing even more for early season.

[huntersmky]

[miket]

[SWAG]

[msbigdawg1234]

I see both sides dead is dead... But I don't shoot them late cause ya never know they maybe late in cycle and be hot and that booner looking for that last hot one is behind her somewhere

[bigoak]

Killing them in October and November is ideal but in the southern part of the state that can be a challenge. Fawns drop so late that a lot of them will still have spots in Oct and Early November. I refuse to orphan a yearling that young. By January the yearlings will have grown a little and gotten a lot more mature. We try to shoot only maiden doe's in Oct & Nov but sometimes you need to take out one or two more in January.

[Smoke68]