Montana November velvet bucks

[antlerradar]

Yes, EHD can affect the blood supply and alter the normal pattern of velvet shedding. It can also damage the vessels that supply blood necessary for antler growth, and the resulting damage to that tissue can lead to abnormal antler growth in subsequent years. EHD was reported across eastern Montana this year, so could certainly have contributed to the large number of velvet bucks. We will probably also see bucks shedding their antlers much earlier this year as well.

The buck I killed had some velvet left at the tips of his tines.

How about elk. A set of elk sheds were found near me that are very very big in early November. They were brought to me to measure and the first thing I noticed was that the knobs on the antlers are very sharp and that the bull must have almost never rubbed his antlers. They also had very little color and no cracks from weathering. I am starting to think that the antlers may have been shed in August after a bout of EHD.

 

[Hunting Wife]

That early of a shed would seem unusual even for EHD based on what I know, but I have not seen much of it in elk. They are typically far less susceptible to it than even mule deer from what I understand. But I can’t say it isn’t possible.

 

[antlerradar]

What’s going on in Montana? We just returned from our annual mule deer hunt and a couple of the bucks we took were either still in velvet or in the process of shedding it. Has anybody else run into this or have an explanation?
JD

Found this fresh (blood on the button) three point mule deer antler yesterday. Earliest mule deer shed I have found by over a month. 2020 is just messed up.

 

[Valley1320]

So we have a butcher shop and we had more muley bucks come in this year with velvet on them this year than usual to. Had one that was almost in full velvet yet middle of November. And quite a few bucks with plenty of velvet hanging on there antlers yet. And we wondered why.. this is in east/central NM

 

[Hunting Wife]

We saw a nice looking four pt sporting one antler today too.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/hunting/nr_3128.html
" Hunters across northcentral and northeast Montana reported seeing a large number of mule deer bucks in velvet this general hunting season. The reason may lie in the Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease outbreak that affected deer in several areas across the region this fall. Although EHD is often fatal in white-tailed deer, mule deer can still acquire the disease and, according to some studies, it may not always be fatal but instead affect testosterone production in bucks. "