I have no idea if it affects shedding or not, but an observation. As a farmer, maybe I'm more tuned in to this than others. Have you ever noticed how deer feed heavily in fresh picked corn and bean fields? As the days go by it tapers off, really tapering off if we get a heavy rain that accelerates decomposition of waste grain. We had an extremely early harvest this past fall, and farmers have geared up to get crops out FAST because of the wet falls we have had lately. I noticed a real drop off of deer feeding in a bean field next to my timber after about 3 weeks post harvest. It was harvested in Sept. Same with a cornfield harvested early on one side of the road vs. one harvested 3 weeks later on the other side of the road. Did deer run out of "easy' food earlier than normal?