Shed antlers

[BSK]

Do early sheders seem to have bigger racks the next year as compared to those that shed in say March or has a difference been noted?

On average, I would think it would be the opposite. Bucks shed early because they are overly stressed. An overly stressed buck would be the most likely deer to underperform the following year.

 

[Shed Hunter]

Agreed would like to hear the reasoning. I always thought it was just each deers individual differences.

Somewhere I think I remember reading something about that trend. If I remember correctly, the author believed it had to do with buck age. But I'll have to try and find that article.

I would not expect age to be the factor causing this difference.

I got my buddy's and my shed collection together.. 3/4 of our sheds are cupped in. The rest are rounded on the bottom.

Of the ones that are rounded none of them have pedicle chipping (where it looks like the antler came off too early and brought a bit of the pedicle with it). Many of the cupped in ones are not smooth and have the chipping.

Someome with more sheds than I have should examine them and see if their are any trends with round vs cupped in. It may be related to when the shed is dropped in relation to when it would be completely ready to drop.

Great information and observations Master Chief. Thanks for posting that.

My buddy found a shed (last years) that we also have the matched set to from a few years back. I forgot to even look at the bottom. Next time I go over there I'll look at it and see if it changed from one year to another. We also have another one I didn't think to look at from year to year.

The one from today was a wopper.. I have a picture of the buck that shed it. His G3 was chewed off but with it the antler would have broke 70"

 

[catman529]

Agreed would like to hear the reasoning. I always thought it was just each deers individual differences.

Somewhere I think I remember reading something about that trend. If I remember correctly, the author believed it had to do with buck age. But I'll have to try and find that article.

I would not expect age to be the factor causing this difference.

I got my buddy's and my shed collection together.. 3/4 of our sheds are cupped in. The rest are rounded on the bottom.

Of the ones that are rounded none of them have pedicle chipping (where it looks like the antler came off too early and brought a bit of the pedicle with it). Many of the cupped in ones are not smooth and have the chipping.

Someome with more sheds than I have should examine them and see if their are any trends with round vs cupped in. It may be related to when the shed is dropped in relation to when it would be completely ready to drop.

Great information and observations Master Chief. Thanks for posting that.

a quick glance at mine, most are fairly flat or cupped in the center. not many have jagged edges except for ones that were obviously broke off before shedding. the slight rough edged ones are not the rounded off ones from what I can tell.

 

[bbuck14]

I've found some sheds where both sides looked normal and then find some where it looks like part of the skull was still attached. It looks like it would be painful shedding. All of which were on a large rack.