Quick shedding

[BSK]

Normally, I see bucks shedding velvet over nearly a month's time, with some as early as the last few days of August while a few still have velvet near bow opener. But so far, this year has been the fastest velvet shed I've ever seen. Other than the injury-induced shedding I posted in another thread (which occurred Sept. 3-4), every buck I had on camera at my place was still in velvet September 8, yet every buck I have on cam was out of velvet by September 13. Five days? That's crazy.

Look in the background (in the woods on the hillside) of the attached video. There's a second buck back there with his velvet hanging in tatters. That video is Sept. 11.

 

[jc0313]

Does the dry weather expedite the shedding process? All the bucks I've had on camera have shed over the last 3-5 days.

 

[BSK]

Does the dry weather expedite the shedding process? All the bucks I've had on camera have shed over the last 3-5 days.

Great question that I don't know the answer to.

 

[tellico4x4]

Haven't gotten one yet this year.

 

[Ski]

In this photo the front buck is shed, far left is ready to shed, and the one in the middle still has full fuzz. Was a regular bachelor group all summer of about 7 bucks but in the last couple weeks it's steadily dropped to these three, and the evening of the 9th is the last time I saw them. I haven't gotten any pics of velvet hanging.