2020 sheds

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by northbuck

Yes...and no...
My 2 cents...
There are many factors that dictate the shedding of antlers...extreme cold weather is one of them but not the main one. If that was the case...I would have seen “bald bucks” during a few cold November’s where there were extended periods of cold weather as severe as what we are experiencing now. And in 35 years of hunting, I’ve never seen a shed buck in November, no matter how cold it got.
I’m very fortunate to live very close to an area which is an annual deer wintering and feeding ground...so I get to watch deer almost every day after hunting season. Some bucks I have watched for up to 6 years...and there are certain things I have noticed. The actual physical condition of bucks coming into winter seems to be what most influences the shedding of antlers. I have found antlers in December from some of the deer I observe....and there was always one common denominator with those extremely early shedding bucks...they were in poor physical shape at the end of November. A few of them were old timers that were past their peak and looked skinny and unhealthy...and a few were bucks that were wounded or had sustained injuries. And for most of those deer that dropped in December, it ended up being their last winter...they never showed up again in following years. The few that did return the year after having shed super early....had severely decreased in antler size.
For sure cold can be hard on deer...but our northern deer have adapted over time and are built for it. I have watched groups of bucks go through stretches of extreme cold weather in December and January but still not start dropping antlers much before late February and into March. So cold wasn’t much of a factor those particular years.
I think lack of nutrition along with deep snow after the rut when they are trying to recuperate might be bigger negative factors. They stress and adversely affect a buck’s health or ability to recuperate. Deep snow is the one factor that seems to negatively affect deer the most in my area. Not only do they have to work harder to move to and from bedding to feeding...they also expend more energy having to find and work to reach food through the snow. It also seems the coyotes harass the deer more in times of deep snow...causing even more stress on the latter.
I have never seen noticeably earlier antler shedding from cold weather alone..but the few winters where general antler shedding seemed earlier than usual were always winters with noticeably deeper snow cover than usual.
I’m not saying that cold isn’t a factor...I just don’t think cold alone to be as big a negative impact or physical drain to a buck’s health as deep snow and lack of good nutrition can be.

I agree with your observations, but did you read the link I provided? Antlers shed due to a drop in testosterone levels. It would have to be mighty cold to make testosterone levels drop during the rut.

Deer go into the rut in top condition, testosterone levels are maxed out. When they start getting nutritionally stressed it drops testosterone levels but when testosterone is maxed out I’m not sure how long it would take for them to drop low enough for deer to shed their antlers, that’s why you won’t see them shed during the rut. When you have 3’ of snow in January, finding high nutrition food is hard, the rut is over so testosterone levels are already naturally coming down, then you add in a low nutrition diet and you’ll get early antler shedding, and likewise when it’s 40 below in January after the rut when testosterone levels are naturally dropping and they have to burn up their stored fat and use the food energy to keep warm.

It’s not an emotional thing, it has nothing to do with moon phases it’s a natural process caused by dropping testosterone levels, and nutrition plays a big role in testosterone levels, especially after the rut.