velvet sheds?

[mntman]

Have any of you ever found a shed with velvet still on it?

I seen a Muley the other day with a screwed up looking rack but it still has velvet on it. He was only 30' away so yeah I could definatley tell it was velvet ;-) It was in a group with a half dozen other bucks.
Didn't see anything wrong with him, was trying to see if it was a doe with antlers but i never got the right angle to see if there was something hanging there or not.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"

 

[4x4elk]

Last year I found one with stripps of velvet still there but not totaly in velvet...

 

[legacy]

Some bucks with hormone problems never rub their velvet off. I'm sure it's quite rare to find a velvet shed though.
__________________________
"Life's tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne

 

[antlerradar]

I have found two. Both are fork horns.

Antlerradar

 

[mntman]

I do have to say you are a lucky guy Antlerradar I have a hard enough time finding sheds let alone 2 still in velvet...


Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"

 

[BuckSnort]

I found a small 3-point shed that was in full velvet.

 

[jims]

I have watched several groups of deer for multiple years here on the Front Range of Colorado. Several of the bucks have velvet year-round until they shed them. I have actually picked up a couple of these sheds. I recognize the same bucks with velvet several years in a row so it wasn't just a 1 year thing.

The velvet sheds I picked up were a lot lighter weight (not solid bone-like) than normal antler sheds. One of the sheds the pedicals are concave rather than convex where it attached to the skull.

I have a feeling this may be a heriditary trait since I've seen other bucks in these same areas with velvet year-round? They shed each year which is different than the cactus bucks that never shed and usually have something screwed up with their balls. Other bucks may have screwy antler growth if they are injured while the velvet is forming.

 

[antlerradar]

I estimate I have found about 10000 mule deer antlers since I started seriously looking in 1981. Not a very high number of velvet antlers.

Antlerradar

 

[pushin_30]

Here one a friend of mine has. Like stated earlier they are much lighter in weight and the button of the shed is not normal for a shed antler.
Odd for sure but it does happen, a lucky find for sure.

 

[txhunter58]

Very unusual!

The wierd part is that a buck that doesn't ever shed the velvet should never shed the antler! But a picutre is worth a 1000 words, because that looks like a normal shed except for the velvet. What time of year was that shed found?

The most likely scenerio with a velvet buck that doesn't shed is NEVER shedding the antler. They just keep growing, year round and eventually end up pretty grotesque

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

 

[jims]

I have found 5 velvet sheds over the years. All of them were dropped in early spring when the regular bucks shed. 3 of the sheds I found were off the same buck (both sides one of the years). I watched this same buck for about 5 years and his antler confirmation was similar each year but the last couple years he started growing a "glob" droptine that was about 6" in circumference and drooped below his ears....it finally broke off.

In another area I've seen 3 different bucks over the years that never shed their velvet but always shed their antlers each spring. I was almost wondering whether it was a hereditary thing in that area because it seemed more than a coincidence that 3 velvet bucks were in the same area?

All of these bucks weren't like the cactus bucks that continue to grow velvet each year and add on to their existing antler velvet without shedding.

The weird thing about the "glob" buck was that the pedesals were concave rather than convex? If my memory is correct the other velvet sheds I picked up were this same way. As I stated earlier all of the antlers were super lightweight and not solid bone like regular antlers.

 

[hopn4sno]

My first thought would be that most velvet sheds are coming off does. Their hormones are screwed up, but the day length will affect them the same as it does bucks. About 30 years ago, there was a 5 point elk on the National Elk Refuge that was a cow-they named her Sue. She came in one more year with a smaller set of antlers and was never seen again. The Wyoming G&F knows this happens often enough, so the regulations are word as "antlerless" and "antlered" so if you do shoot a doe with antlers you are legal.