When And Why Bucks Shed Their Antlers | Shed Hunting 2020 (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Uwy6V7jKNTc)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen Do Deer Shed Their Antlers?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you want to try your hand at shed hunting, you may be curious about when, exactly, deer shed their antlers. The exact timeframe can vary and depends on a number of factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Generally speaking, most deer shed their antlers between January and March. However, some deer may shed as early as November or December or as late as April.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nDeer that are sick, injured, or stressed in some other way may experience a drop in testosterone levels, causing them to shed their antlers prematurely. A lack of sufficient nutrition can cause a similar effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Periods of drought or harsh winters can cause a premature shed among all the bucks in a region. On the other hand, mild weather and plenty of food and other resources can cause the rut to last longer, allowing bucks to retain their antlers until later in the winter or spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Older bucks, over the age of six, may also shed their antlers sooner than younger ones due to overall decreased testosterone levels.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, if there are a lot of does in a region and many of them remain unbred late into the rut, the testosterone levels of any local males will remain high and their antlers will remain intact for a longer period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, female reindeer tend to retain their antlers the longest, often not shedding until after giving birth each April or May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do Deer’s Antlers Grow Back?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Because antler-shedding is a natural part of a deer\u2019s life, it is an ongoing process. Anytime a deer sheds its current set of antlers, a new pair begins to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As noted, a deer\u2019s antlers begin to grow back soon after the old ones are shed\u2013sometimes almost immediately. That said, it can take up to a few months before the new antlers begin to show up.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIt is the drop in testosterone and increasing photoperiod, or daylight hours, that cause a deer to shed its antlers. These same factors are what trigger the deer\u2019s body to begin growing new antlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus the process continues, year after year. Deer lose their antlers once a year, and they begin growing their next pair that same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does Shedding Antlers Hurt the Deer?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You might imagine that shedding antlers would be a painful process for deer. After all, it seems like it would take a decent amount of force to knock the bony projections loose from their head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s more, when a deer sheds its antlers, the pedicles sometimes bleed a little bit. This is because there are a lot of blood vessels in the pedicles which supply nutrients to the antlers in their growing stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite what you might assume, shedding antlers isn\u2019t actually painful to the deer, as the antlers loosen significantly and separate themselves from the pedicles before coming off.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIf anything, this process may be itchy or slightly uncomfortable, as deer are often observed beating their antlers against the ground or a tree trunk to help speed up the loosening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the antlers fall, the pedicles may be raw at first, but they quickly toughen as they scab over and begin preparing for the growth of new antlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Deer shed their antlers due to changes in hormone levels and daylight hours, though other factors can sometimes play a role. The antlers usually come off between January and March each year, and new antlers begin growing shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you ever been walking in the woods and come across a deer\u2019s antler? Maybe you want to give shed hunting a try and are curious what causes a deer to shed its antlers. In this article, we\u2019ll talk about what happens when a deer sheds its antlers\u2013including why, how, and when this process takes … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13005"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13007,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13005\/revisions\/13007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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