BSK buck shedding question

catman529

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Seems a few of us here have noticed that most of the sheds we find are right sides. Most of mine are rights, with only an occasional left side. Some of the lefts came from matched sets that were very close together. Could be that our eyes are trained to see antlers a certain way so we overlook some left sides, or maybe it's just a strange coincidence.

But I was wondering if you have any data on bucks shedding their antlers in regard to which side falls off first... is it totally random, or is it more common for a buck to drop his right or left side first?
 

TRIGGER

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I'm not BSK but the reason you are finding more right side antlers is due to the location of the simbrial portion of the brain that controls the bone growth of the deer. It's located closer to the right side of the brain therefore the right side receives the message first in turn releasing the right side first. Soon you will start seeing more left side antlers.
Ok so that was all B.S. I have no clue about any of this but am awaiting BSK's answer.

P.s. no I have no clue what a simbrial is I just made that up too.
 

plinker22

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TRIGGER said:
I'm not BSK but the reason you are finding more right side antlers is due to the location of the simbrial portion of the brain that controls the bone growth of the deer. It's located closer to the right side of the brain therefore the right side receives the message first in turn releasing the right side first. Soon you will start seeing more left side antlers.
^^^ this. I agree 100%. :D
 

Redfred16

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TRIGGER said:
I'm not BSK but the reason you are finding more right side antlers is due to the location of the simbrial portion of the brain that controls the bone growth of the deer. It's located closer to the right side of the brain therefore the right side receives the message first in turn releasing the right side first. Soon you will start seeing more left side antlers.
Ok so that was all B.S. I have no clue about any of this but am awaiting BSK's answer.


P.s. no I have no clue what a simbrial is I just made that up too.

This was good, you had me at first :grin:
 

BSK

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catman529 said:
...or maybe it's just a strange coincidence.

I suspect this is the answer.


But I was wondering if you have any data on bucks shedding their antlers in regard to which side falls off first... is it totally random, or is it more common for a buck to drop his right or left side first?

I've seen no research on the topic.
 

Southern Sportsman

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Lol. I gotcha. I knew the rest of it was tongue in cheek, but sometimes i miss the obvious.

As for the original question, i have never been much of a shed hunter, but have picked up a few turkey hunting over the years, and the few that i still have are all rights. This right antler phenomenon is weird to me.
 

Coach

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I watched Michigan Out of Doors Thursday evening because they had a segment on shed hunting with dogs....and how to train a dog to hunt sheds. Although it was interesting they never said a word about the right antler phenomenon. I've never hunted sheds either...I have enough antlers in the shed now!
 

Hunter 257W

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While we're on the subject of antler shedding science, why do some bucks hold their antlers so much longer than others? Is there any relationship between a bucks health and when he sheds his antlers?

I got pictures of 3 bucks this week with both antlers intact - which is nothing uncommon for my farm.
 

The_Utility_Dude

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Hunter 257W said:
While we're on the subject of antler shedding science, why do some bucks hold their antlers so much longer than others? Is there any relationship between a bucks health and when he sheds his antlers?

I got pictures of 3 bucks this week with both antlers intact - which is nothing uncommon for my farm.

If my memory serves me, I think I remember reading that is an indication of excellent herd health. A buck that's not rut stressed nor nutrionally stressed will hold his antlers until time to start growing a new set.

Can't remember if I saw that on tndeer or if I had that in my simbrial anatomy 101 class back in college. ;) :grin:
 

Hunter 257W

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The_Utility_Dude said:
Hunter 257W said:
While we're on the subject of antler shedding science, why do some bucks hold their antlers so much longer than others? Is there any relationship between a bucks health and when he sheds his antlers?

I got pictures of 3 bucks this week with both antlers intact - which is nothing uncommon for my farm.

If my memory serves me, I think I remember reading that is an indication of excellent herd health. A buck that's not rut stressed nor nutrionally stressed will hold his antlers until time to start growing a new set.

Can't remember if I saw that on tndeer or if I had that in my simbrial anatomy 101 class back in college. ;) :grin:

That is what I was thinking just based on intuition. Makes sense at least since antlers are a non-essential body part and only grow to their potential when a bucks health is at it's optimum, it would seem reasonable that they would hold them longer if their health were very good. I must have some healthy bucks then.

I have to admit, that simbrial brain region stuff sounded real good too. :)
 

BSK

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The_Utility_Dude said:
Hunter 257W said:
While we're on the subject of antler shedding science, why do some bucks hold their antlers so much longer than others? Is there any relationship between a bucks health and when he sheds his antlers?

I got pictures of 3 bucks this week with both antlers intact - which is nothing uncommon for my farm.

If my memory serves me, I think I remember reading that is an indication of excellent herd health. A buck that's not rut stressed nor nutrionally stressed will hold his antlers until time to start growing a new set.

Correct. How long the majority of bucks hold their antlers is an excellent indicator of herd health. Highly rut/nutritionally stressed bucks will drop their antlers early in winter. Healthy, unstressed bucks will hold their antlers until just before the new set begins to grow in mid-spring.
 

TheLBLman

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BSK said:
Healthy, unstressed bucks will hold their antlers until just before the new set begins to grow in mid-spring.
I believe this is much of the reason we fail to find many fresh sheds.

1) We're out looking when most bucks haven't yet shed their antlers;

2) When they shed in mid-to-late March (or later) the fast-growing Spring green-up can quickly hide any sheds.

So far this year, I've amazed myself with how many old sheds I've found in 2013 that were shed in 2012 ---- looking in the same places I so diligently soured in March of last year. I believe many of these were shed last year after I stopped looking, while others were just quickly obscured by the fresh plant growth.

If you can get out during the month of February, it may very well be the best month to find LAST year's sheds, many of which are shed in thick cover where they are near impossible to see when shed, but become most visible at the last possible moment before Spring green-up begins.
 

Shed Hunter

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Old sheds are also much easier to spot due to being sun bleached. I've only found one fresh shed and my buddy has never found one. We don't really look that much but enough you'd think we would find more fresh ones.
 

catman529

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Wes Parrish said:
BSK said:
Healthy, unstressed bucks will hold their antlers until just before the new set begins to grow in mid-spring.
I believe this is much of the reason we fail to find many fresh sheds.

1) We're out looking when most bucks haven't yet shed their antlers;

2) When they shed in mid-to-late March (or later) the fast-growing Spring green-up can quickly hide any sheds.

So far this year, I've amazed myself with how many old sheds I've found in 2013 that were shed in 2012 ---- looking in the same places I so diligently soured in March of last year. I believe many of these were shed last year after I stopped looking, while others were just quickly obscured by the fresh plant growth.

If you can get out during the month of February, it may very well be the best month to find LAST year's sheds, many of which are shed in thick cover where they are near impossible to see when shed, but become most visible at the last possible moment before Spring green-up begins.
this is exactly my observations this year. Lots of old sheds, the occasional fresh one, figure the bucks are still holding. Then when they drop it's greened up and shed hunting becomes tough, and at that point I am looking for something other than sheds.... morels
 
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