Buck Running With One Antler

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alsaqr

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Gave this buck a pass on 6 December. Watched him graze in a game plot about 40 yards distance for 20 minutes or more.

Game camera picture showed him with one antler on 1 January. On 8 March buck was still carrying that antler.

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The buck had both antlers when i passed on him. He lost one sometime between 6 December and 1 January. That young buck will have a great spread in a couple years, if he lives that long.
 
I was thinking since nowadays many young people don't know which bathroom they should use, this buck might be a wannabe caribou and this antler is his spade.
 
You’ve heard of a unicorn, this is the deer version. He’s a uniant.
 
Yep he's a youngster and will be nice in a few. Long ago I use to say if I don't shoot someone else will. That's the wrong way to look at it. I have been letting the younger bucks walk for years since those days and it has paid off well. Something really neat to watch them progress over a few years.
 
I am still trying to figure out the shed process. When I first started hunting and culling does on a large farm I had deer with horns until the end of February. The the last 2 years they have dropped their horns in December and early January. I read one article that stated that the buck's testosterone level fell when all of the does were bred. I wonder if all of the doe culling that I did had anything to do with it. Anyone out there with a Whitetail degree?
 
It used to be if I passed any deer, someone else was going to shoot it. Nearly guaranteed.

Now that I am in a situation where letting a deer pass won’t be the difference between filling my freezer and not, I am going to start experimenting with this whole QDM thing. I will still shoot does if I think there is an unhealthy doe to buck ratio.
 
Gave this buck a pass on 6 December. Watched him graze in a game plot about 40 yards distance for 20 minutes or more. Game camera picture showed him with one antler on 1 January. On 8 March buck was still carrying that antler.View attachment 987401

If you look really close at the deer's head on the picture from March 8 you can see that the deer has not shed the right antler but it was broken off. The right antler is just a small white stub and was broken off really close to the head. It shows up as a white spot in front of the deer's right ear.

I think it all depends on the location of the State and the condition of the deer as to when they shed their antlers. I also live in Oklahoma and most of the bucks will still have their antlers on March 1st. The big bucks will shed their antlers sometime in March but many of the small bucks will still have their antlers as late as April 1st. I have been watching deer for many years and have at least 20 bucks on my place that I watch each year.
 
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Here in West TN, most bucks still have their antlers. I just watched a nice 10pt cross in front of me yesterday. I have seen some still have them past Memorial day.
 
Antler dropping is controlled by the same thing antler growth is......testosterone. In wild deer, this level is determined by amount and angle of daylight as well as health of the animal. Injury to the testicles of a deer may not only inhibit growth of antlers, but inhibit the dropping of said antlers. Same is true for the pedicle. High populations of large bucks in an area means more sparring for a longer time, which can keep testosterone levels high enough that bucks hold the antlers longer. Those increase in sparring also means more chances of injury to the testicles or pedicle. Also means more chance of a broken antler. Around here, how healthy a buck goes into winter along with how hard the winter is, has a big affect on when they drop their antlers. Still, the drop in testosterone effects both pedicles the same, so a difference of two months in the dropping of individual antlers, tells me something is amiss. Hard in the OP's pic for me to determine if there is a stub of antler left or just an empty pedicle, even when downloaded and enlarged greatly. Be interesting to see what that buck grows next year.
 
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