Ethan Givan Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Pulled cards from a couple cameras behind my house tonight that I had set out for turkeys. Got a big suprise on one of them. I dont know why they are still carrying antlers on the 26th of March, but this may explain why I cant find any sheds!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 So much for shed hunting!! Yikes I've never seen a good buck carry this late Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted March 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Yikes I've never seen a good buck carry this late Its pretty wild, I guess they will drop when his next set starts growing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 He is gonna have a short time to regrow his antlers. Real nice deer there. Good luck finding his sheds. I had a couple little ones still carrying theirs on my last pull a couple weeks ago, also had what appeared to be some real late rutting activity going on, too bad I did not have the cam on video mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 still had a one sided spike last week..guess they dont need any.. "ageless male".....lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zizzer59 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 So much for shed hunting!! I was driving through Kansas the other day and saw one just like that, but he was chasing a doe through a field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Carrying antlers late is supposed to mean that does are still coming into estrus requiring bucks to fight for dominance. The high levels of testosterone do this. Dr. James Kroll had a segment on it. Generally speaking that would mean too many does for your buck population to breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted April 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 Carrying antlers late is supposed to mean that does are still coming into estrus requiring bucks to fight for dominance. The high levels of testosterone do this. Dr. James Kroll had a segment on it. Generally speaking that would mean too many does for your buck population to breed. Now that is interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 Carrying antlers late is supposed to mean that does are still coming into estrus requiring bucks to fight for dominance. The high levels of testosterone do this. Dr. James Kroll had a segment on it. Generally speaking that would mean too many does for your buck population to breed. That sure is interesting and as a general rule might hold true. Don't think the buck doe ratio has been as much a factor with the doe's not getting bred during our primary and secondary ruts here though. Matter of fact during our seasons I saw as many if not more bucks than does. Think what we are seeing around here is the young does coming in late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted April 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 That sure is interesting and as a general rule might hold true. Don't think the buck doe ratio has been as much a factor with the doe's not getting bred during our primary and secondary ruts here though. Matter of fact during our seasons I saw as many if not more bucks than does. Think what we are seeing around here is the young does coming in late. We have seen the same thing here. My brother hunted here at the house quite a bit this year and he saw about the same amount of bucks as does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 Yikes I've never seen a good buck carry this late Saw a nice 3 year old 2 years ago still carrying his in mid April! That's the longest I've ever seen. I've seen a few in late March, but not many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 That sure is interesting and as a general rule might hold true. Don't think the buck doe ratio has been as much a factor with the doe's not getting bred during our primary and secondary ruts here though. Matter of fact during our seasons I saw as many if not more bucks than does. Think what we are seeing around here is the young does coming in late. My theory on that is the warmer than normal temps last few years. The does get bred later and later so they drop fawns later and later and the mild winters don't kill the late fawns that might normally die during a colder winter, and therefore, the late fawns from the last 2 years come into estrous for the first time in February and March. Just a theory though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 chris's theory seems plausible. biologists have always told me it has to do with buck to doe ratio with doe being bred during later cycles. this keeps the bucks producing high enough levels of testosterone. decrease in testosterone is what triggers pedicel cells to die or antlers to shed and then start regrowth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted April 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 All of the theories make good sense. Might be a combination of everything. I have seen smaller bucks carrying antlers in April before, but I have never seen one that big still carrying this late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 My theory on that is the warmer than normal temps last few years. The does get bred later and later so they drop fawns later and later and the mild winters don't kill the late fawns that might normally die during a colder winter, and therefore, the late fawns from the last 2 years come into estrous for the first time in February and March. Just a theory though. Dunno, could be Chris. Winter die offs are not usually an issue here though. I do know we have had deer show up at our mineral site the past two years in March still sporting spots. Our rut the past 5 years or so seems to be being more drawn out, get the first few does that come in pretty close to the same time then seems to go inconsistent from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 So much for shed hunting!! I know this year has been a bust for me. Two sheds is it. I know my deer made it due to trail cam pics but I can't find them. Oh well at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Pretty poor here in MS too. Found 1 so far. Bucks down here shed later than most other areas. Remember our rut peaks near the end of Dec. Normally where I hunt in MS the bucks start dropping sheds around the end of the 1st week of March. The earliest I've found any in MS was the last week of February. Didn't find any when I was up in MO during the 1st week of Feb. Thought that was odd. When I get back to MO for the opening of their turkey season, I'll be looking for some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhine16 Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 So much for shed hunting!! I've found 8 so far, but saw 7 bucks still carrying two weekends ago. They seem alot later than normal this year to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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