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% of bucks shed & thoughts?

Sligh1

Sligh1

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I’ve seen about 6-8 bucks shed so far. I’d guess that 1 of 20 have shed. This is pretty normal for what I’ve seen for 15-20 years of watching.
By end of season - I’m gonna guess it’ll be 10% by me. Plenty of food, no cold weather - but I did have an issue of shooting too many does in past few seasons so I think it’s related to that.

Some areas lacking food- could see a lot more.

Bucks looked pretty healthy overall. Young & old have shed.

Years past- coming off of hard winter before. Or really crazy rut. Or seeing areas with little food- crazy how those situations get lots of early shed bucks. **which is great for those who have late shed buck season coming up with rifles!! ;):mad::confused::p:D:eek::rolleyes:

1) what u all seeing for shed bucks & what’s basic details on deer density, food, etc?
2) I need a memory refresher…. have any of you followed bucks that shed early & seem like they made good jumps & often survived going into following year? I did find one dead shed buck last week. usually my concern with early shedding is unhealthy, injured or stressed deer. What’s thoughts & history of early shedding bucks & the years following?

Par for the course & I’m guessing this is a normal year where sheds be down by end of February/early March. Interestingly light winter so far! Fire back on what you all are seeing. Anyone shooting “does” - be careful!
 
Last night watched a good sized deer really close and could see it was a shed buck. Tonight saw one with only one side. In the 2 nights I also saw I think 6 fully antlers bucks. Where I was hunting there is not any standing food left, but they are digging and scratching without having to go out far. They can't be too hungry because I have a standing corn plot a mile away from there with zero deer in it.
 
Sat over standing beans sun night 13 bucks of all ages up to at least 5.5 yrs old and all had full racks no sheds yet! In comparison last yr i had them dropping like flies during the gun1 and gun2 seasons ! Buy end of gun2 last yr half of mine were shed or missing 1 antler .

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I have one coming to my feeder that is shed all ready, looks healthy and fairly mature.

The last several years 50% of bucks around me have shed by the end of January and only a couple carry into March. Nobody around me is doing food plots or leaving standing crops so the deer have browse and waste grain to survive on. There is 100 plus acres of alfalfa scattered around my neighborhood and they hit that all winter.
 
I followed a buck that shed one side by mid December in 2017, the following year he was a 160 class 10. For some reason his rack was somewhat smaller the year he shed one side in December; I'm assuming injury of some kind. Anyway, he bounced back just fine after shedding one side early. I'm sure it's situational though.
 
Spysar said:
Dang, his leg is blown right off.
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FWIW, I think it looks like he is holding it up off of the ground. I think you can still see the hoof. I shot one much like this a couple of weeks ago. She was limping bad and I decided to take her out, even though it was a small one. The lower leg looked like it had been caught in a fence recently. There was exposed muscle visible in some areas and I suspect that it would not have made it past the first coyote encounter. It happens.
 
Daver said:
FWIW, I think it looks like he is holding it up off of the ground. I think you can still see the hoof. I shot one much like this a couple of weeks ago. She was limping bad and I decided to take her out, even though it was a small one. The lower leg looked like it had been caught in a fence recently. There was exposed muscle visible in some areas and I suspect that it would not have made it past the first coyote encounter. It happens.
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That hoof is dangling off his leg. That's not healing. He's going to be a 3 legger or dead.
 
From what I've read/studied/observed when the neck starts shrinking the antlers are going to shed within a month or so. It depends on testosterone levels not antler size and that's why you'll see the young and the past their prime bucks shed first. The "he man" bucks will usually be the last ones to shed.
 
Yep. Bad break I’d guess it’s from getting caught in between top & 2nd strand of barb wire I find some that die in fence every year Yikes that’s bad Injuries always get em dropping early
I’m still stumped on whether average deer who shed early that look “ok” will have good gains or growth the following year.
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If that buck that sheds early has the age, genetics and early season nutrition IMO he should have decent antler growth next year. If he shed early because he's going downhill then probably not.
 
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Here’s one I got today. Missing a bunch of hair and walking with a pretty good limp. Looks like he might have gotten hit by car

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Idk? Im really begining to wonder what causes the bucks in A given area to shed ? Last yr as i stated i had bucks shedding alot in dec. Lots of half racks were seen and the buck i shot lost its antlers when i shot him! Wens of gun2 here in iowa . Fast forward 1 yr its jan 8th and i have not seen a single buck with half a rack or all shed. I took this guy last night he was buck no. 6 for the evening and all had full racks this guy has been badly injured since oct. And still has full rack ! I dragged him out and loaded him pulling on antlers to see if they were "loose" nope! Solid!!!! I did not expect this guy to still be carrying dye to his injuries and loss of body weight!! Idk go figure!!!
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