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BigDcRed
Guest
anybody eles haveing this problem, maby this weekend. lets hope.
I've always wondered about this as I've been a serious antler hunter for many years and read constantly that the elk drop in march and april. I live in n-cent colo. and our elk drop in late april and early may, you can count on most of the elk being dropped by may 10th with the exception of spikes of course. I personally have only ever seen 1 bull dropped in march a few years back. Where do you guys live that the antlers are already on the ground??
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sneeke01
Guest
I was out yesterday and only seen 2 bulls out of about 100 that still had both sides. I live in nw wyoming. I picked up 4 fresh elk sheds couple days ago.
That's amazing to me . It's not at all unusual to see a bachelor herd on the 1st of may here and all them are still 2-horned. Of course we don't have many mature bulls here mostly rags and 3 1/2 yr olds. Once I hiked to a hot spot on about apr. 20th and saw one big boy hornless but a 300 class bull was laying right beside him still carrying with 6 or 8 little guys all around still packing both.
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JACKELOPE
Guest
they're dropping 2 weeks ago at oak creek in washington.
The bigger animals definitely tend to drop first whether deer or elk- my theory is greater pressure on the pedicles from the leverage of the longer and heavier antlers. I pay more attention to deer than elk cause I'm always working by the time the elk are dropped around here. Many times I've jumped the gun to go to a hot spot and seen 15-30 bulls still all carrying the first week of may. But often there is a bigger bodied bull with them and his are gone, we don't get to many mature bulls here we kill them all at 21/2 yrs.
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cohntr6
Guest
Squirrel
I use to live in Fort Collins and found most mature bulls were shed by the end of march where I went (all within 2 hours of FC). I have a couple pictures of 2 bulls that were starting their 4th points by mid may.
Yes I have seen raghorns that are still packing in mid/late april but I believe 90% are done by then.
Jeff
I use to live in Fort Collins and found most mature bulls were shed by the end of march where I went (all within 2 hours of FC). I have a couple pictures of 2 bulls that were starting their 4th points by mid may.
Yes I have seen raghorns that are still packing in mid/late april but I believe 90% are done by then.
Jeff
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cohntr6
Guest
Yes, older bucks/bulls shed before younger males.
Its the nature of the beast...
Jeff
Its the nature of the beast...
Jeff
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SteelieP17
Guest
Not that I know what I'm talking about, but I remember reading some study by ODFW many years ago while writing a term paper for a zoology class that the timing of antler drops has a lot to do with the breeding make up of the herd and forage conditions. I vaguely remember this, but it goes something like if there are fewer mature bulls in the breeding pool then the antlers drop in March-ish and if there are more mature bulls, April-May-ish. But I read this in college and some things about that time are foggy 
. Maybe somebody else out there paid more attention in class than I did...
. Maybe somebody else out there paid more attention in class than I did...
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Rammu
Guest
Mature bulls will almost always drop first.
I seen 40 bulls over the weekend and notta one had a bone still on it.
I seen 40 bulls over the weekend and notta one had a bone still on it.
You guys ever hear people say....only apply for an elk tag on wet years in NM/AZ/UT?......Well what difference does it make?...the bulls have not even lost their head gear when you apply in most states? How would a person know what the weather is to be during the antler growing period? May/June/July....
littlebighorn
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 5,316
Well Junior,
Forage has to have good wet winter, and spring weather to be healthy. While it's true that a wet summer can change things, most years, if it's not here by now, it ain't comin!
Forage has to have good wet winter, and spring weather to be healthy. While it's true that a wet summer can change things, most years, if it's not here by now, it ain't comin!
