Hey I was wondering how critical it is for bucks to drop there nubs we cut there antlers in the fall. I have heard guys darting medicine into to deer to drop antlers, I also heard of guys changing the feed up to drop antlers. Does this help the buck get an extra start on early growth to grow bigger antlers???? We already have some bucks losing there nubs and our button bucks have started losing there buttons.... Just wondering....
Joined Sep 2010
572 Posts | 0+
Indiana
Ryan I darted most of breeders Jan. 1. They lost there cutoffs about 2 weeks later. One of my coming 2yr olds is already growing. But I also noticed the one of my buck fawns already has new growth sticking up. And a couples others wont be long before you can see them good.
Joined Apr 2009
1,428 Posts | 0+
Northeast Wisconsin
They will shed them when they are ready just be sure to leave a couple of inches when you saw them so they can rub them or knock them off. Giving them shots to lose their antlers seems like asking for trouble, also opens the industry up for criticism.
Clearview Whitetails said:
so do you think they/your deer/bucks are done ruting ? safe to go in to the buck pens ???? im in nj , have seen 6 deer killed in the wild that have shed in the last mouth. dont fig why they are sheding in late jan, we have had a mild winter here
Ryan, to a point. I have seen first hand where an animal basically scored the same or a little more on a few occasions due to shedding in May, as the year before. At the same time antlers are grown with the change light cycles. They start growing early, they quite early.
This cycle is 165-200 days or so.
I think ideally an animal that sheds from end of January to mid March is in the best shape to show his stuff. I personally like bucks that do most of there growing in July and August where I live as apposed to May and June, but every one has there own thing.
This cycle is 165-200 days or so.
I think ideally an animal that sheds from end of January to mid March is in the best shape to show his stuff. I personally like bucks that do most of there growing in July and August where I live as apposed to May and June, but every one has there own thing.
RyanM84 said:
Ryan - In my opinion, and generally speaking...NO!
Specifically speaking...if you're talking about taking an individual buck and causing him to lose earlier than he would have otherwise...in my opinion...definitely NOT! He's gonna grow what he's gonna grow!
crocket said:
crocket - Here in NW Illinois we are experiencing the same thing, ie the bucks losing their antlers early.
Typically here in Illinois, the extra early ones will lose them in late January.
The extra late ones will lose them mid April.
The bulk of them lose them from mid February to mid March.
I would wager that 90% or more have lost them already(if not all), and most have been shed for some time now. I have never seen anything like this before, and we, like you, have had a mild winter so far.
My only guess is that because of the extreme dry conditions we experienced this spring, summer, and fall, that their nutrition levels never attained the normal build-up and subsequently lost their antlers early do to their nutritional deficiencies. It's the only thing to me that makes sense.
I mean, it was dryer around here than I've ever seen it in my life, and I'm 58.
Ponds that never have been dry, dried up. Small creeks dried up so thoroughly that cattle couldn't be put in the pastures because of it.
Was it dry by you crockett??