Brown whitetail

[antlerradar]

Found this fresh whitetail antler in the corn pile yesterday. Earliest I have ever found a fresh whitetail antler. Not a good sign as shedding is an indicator of deer health.

 

[pabearhunter]

Maybe fighting ??

 

[buckbull]

My guess is that the buck has an abnormal hormone issue if its shed and not broken off.

 

[EYJONAS!]

I've been hearing about people picking up mule deer sheds since early November. I'm guessing the summers drought is playing a roll ìn it more than anything.

 

[JEL]

I've been hearing about people picking up mule deer sheds since early November. I'm guessing the summers drought is playing a roll ìn it more than anything.

That would be my guess. SE MT had a really tough summer between the drought and hoppers. I can't imagine the range is in very good condition.

 

[MTLabrador]

I haven’t seen any deer that have dropped already this year, but in 2018 I saw several whitetail bucks that had shed by the second week of December.

 

[antlerradar]

This buck shed last year on the 20th. There is nothing that would indicate that the antler was broken off.

 

[bowhuntmontana]

That is pretty early. Some sort of stressor.

 

[FAIR CHASE]

Only way to know is to kill it and send a sample to FWP.

 

[Bambistew]

The older they get the earlier they shed.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

This buck shed last year on the 20th. There is nothing that would indicate that the antler was broken off.

So, he shed 5 days earlier this year?

 

[Id-Dave]

I often find whitetail antlers during this local late archery season that goes until the 20th.

Neighbor down the road harvested one of his nicer bucks this year and while he was messing around loading him up one side popped off.(good thing he is a taxidermist)

 

[track1]

In 07 or 08 I picked up some sheds on Dec 1. Actually from 3 different deer. It was very odd. One matching 4 point. About. 120”. Also 2 separate small 4 point sheds. Just north of Bozeman.

 

[Gellar]

our group shoot a shed buck in the December gun season. While butchering we discovered a large puncture wound possibly from an antler tine in one side just below the spine. There was a large puss pocket surrounding it and had began to go up the length of the backstrap. The other side seemed fine so it went into to the sausage pile.
My father in law will begin to find sheds in his feedlot any day now. and it is not uncommon to hear people who shoot a buck and the antlers come off when they lift it up for pictures during our late season.

 

[SaskHunter]

Some deer are dropping around here too. I think this is happens most years, some bucks drop early and it could be from a lot of reasons. Injuries, rough rut, bad weather, etc.

 

[antlerradar]

This year I found a dozen antlers by Christmas. I usually find an antler or two by Christmas but never a dozen. One is a big 73+ inch antler that was shed on the 18th. The buck has yet to shed the other side. I have never seen a buck hold one antler for that long. Twenty twenty is different in so many ways.