Have you ever seen it?

[YELUM]

I know sheds usually drop when enough of the pedicle supporting the antler has been desolved. But sometimes a buck just wants to get rid of an antler, whether by rubbing it on a tree or bush, or shaking his head hard.

This year, on 2 occasions, I watched a buck with 1 antler, lock up with another buck, and shove really hard multiple times until he popped the remaining antler off. Anyone else ever see this happen?

Yelum

 

[muleymaster]

I have found sheds stuffed really deep in brush as if they were being rubbed off and i found a 195 buck shed that was broken, wasnt ready to be off. I havent seen them drop purposly though

 

[mountainhunter]

I found an elk shed sticking out of the ground at about a 45 degree angle. It appeared like the bull stuck it in the ground on purpose and dropped it.

 

[bucklover]

I've actually found a few sticking in the branches of a juniper, about 3 to 4 feet off the ground.

 

[Squirrel]

Funny story from a Mo. redneck, went to state park with tame "feed me out of your car window" deer in south Co. Had a one-horned forky want some crackers out of the car so he grabbed the remaining horn. Said he let go when all that was left inside the car were his feet!! This character was straight from "deliverance" way funny to hear him tell it! Ive watched hundreds of one-horned deer and never seen one drop-still waiting.

 

[ShedhuntUT]

i picked up one side of a nice four point on saturday that i have been watchin for a little over a month. he has been packin the other side for four days. . . how long will they pack one side until it really bothers them?

 

[Hornhog2]

Yelum, I think once they've dropped one antler, they desperatly try to get the other one off. Like the other posts, I've found antlers near rubs. But on a few occasions, (especially with elk), I've noticed one antlered critters going crazy trying to knock their last antler off. Pawing, rubbing, fighting, etc... Im my mind, it has to itch like crazy. What deteirorates the pedicle? Is it acidic? If so, it would itch bad. It seems to me deer will carry their second antler alot longer than an elk. Probably has to do with weight I guess.

Does it seem bigger bucks/bulls try to rid their head gear earlier? Alot of the bigger ones I've found have alot of pedicle below the base like they broke it off. What do you guys think?

 

[whiteshadow]

I have seen some bucks in the past do the same Yelum. One four point a few years back i saw him run and then abruptly stop while kind of shaking his head forward four or five times until one little jerk of his head popped it off then he went back to eatting. PM sent

 

[PumpJack]

I've never watched a deer try to break an antler off but I believe they'll do it. Here are some ATL pics of a small 3 pt. I found last year. His G2 was about 4 inches into the ground.

 

[muledeernuts]

Yelum the best i can do for you is tell you i once found a whitetail shed pinched in between two trees. apparently he was rubbing and the right antler slide down into the V and he must have jerked and jerked until it came off. Find the horn Goose!

 

[BCBOY]

I watch a lot of bucks every winter than are very aggressive with thier rubbing and sparring. The sparring seems very much with the intent of popping the antlers off. They turn their heads and jerk really hard trying to lock up and pop them. I've watched this go on for hours just hoping to see the magic moment when an antler drops. Have yet to see it happen. Most years around here the mass dropping happens around mid-late Jan. Last year was really mild and they held on well into March. They were beating trees and sparring the entire time. I get the impression that it must get itchy for them thus the reason they want them off so bad.

 

[YELUM]

Thanks for the responses guys. Ya BCBOY, the other day I thought I was gonna see it for the third time this year. He was packing a good piece of bone on one side, and we watched him scratch it with his back leg and then shake his head real hard. He did that twice during the morning and my heart stopped both times. Dammed thing shed it after dark. lol

Yelum

 

[BreederBuck]

I have also spent many hours behind binos or scopes watching one antlered bucks but have never seen the drop.

 

[Yoyak]

I've always wondered if thats what happened with this horn. This is how I found it.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-26-11 AT 07:43AM (MST)[p]I have never seen a critter try to knock their antlers off, though I have found evidence that they will spar around shedding time. One year I found a nice 4 pt. muley shed interlocked with another, smaller 4 pt laying on to top of a knife ridge. I ended up finding both sides to each buck. It's pretty clear that they were sparring. Whether or not they shed at the same time or one carried the other's antler around for a while I don't know . . . I do wish they'd do that more often! I have found that moose will rub a lot around shedding time, perhaps more than deer or elk. Walk into an area where a bull yarded up for the winter and you'll find tons of rubs and maybe, if your lucky, a paddle!

 

[Cretehorn]

Yelum, another thought provoking post as usual. I enjoyed meeting you the other day out west I've never witnessed this either. I've spent hours watching one horned bucks only to be disappointed by dark also. But, to second what HiMtnHntr has said about the moose, I know that losing one antler bothers them. I've found one side and then followed rubs every 100yards for almost a mile only to finally find the other side at the bottom of another rub. Here's a few pics of the rubs, and one I found stuck in the brush, like he was trying to pull it off too.

Clint

 

[YELUM]

Great pics and nice finds. I've never found a moose shed.

Nice meeting you as well, and lookiung forward to hooking up soon.

Yelum

 

[BCBOY]

Moose really like to pound the trees to knock off their paddles. That is how I find most of my moose sheds. Find a bunch of big rubs and start combing back and forth. Good chance you will find a shed either right under the rub or very close. Here's a shed I found last year. This pic gives ya a good indication of the size of trees a bigger bull will pick on. There were absolutely dozens of rubs within eyesight of the shed. Never did match that guy up. Found 4 other browns that day which added up to 75 lbs on my back for the trek out.

 

[Pines_N_Tines]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-20-11 AT 05:19PM (MST)[p]Yelum,

I've never personally seen a buck shed his head gear. I did pick up set of brown sheds this past weekend that makes me wonder what happened. The pedicles don't look completely dissolved. I wonder if this buck could tell it's about time to shed and helped them come off. They were both under a pinyon that had been rubbed a bit.

Here's a pic of the bases.

Here's an As-They-Lay from the same shed trip. It may have just dropped this way or maybe the buck wedged it in between to lose an annoyning itch. Who knows?

 

[whitwell_56]

A few years back I found a whitetail horn in a bush. You could see where the buck had been rubbing the tree trying to knock it off.

 

[YELUM]

Its been a little more than a year since I made this post. The cool thing is that in my first 20 years of watching deer, I'd seen one antler drop. Last year I watched 2, and this year I saw 3, including the same buck that I watched drop last year. Incredibly, my wife and I watched him lock up with the same buck he did last year, and knocked off both sides, 3 minutes apart. That little buck knocked off all 3 sheds I saw drop this year.

Yelum

 

[PGAJake]

That is unreal! So cool. Makes me wonder how often they do this? I would assume it's a lot more than we think. You lucky dog!





"Make every obstacle an opportunity"

 

[tradarc]

I found a deer shed that was logded in a crack in a bolder and seen elk break off both antlers during shed seseaon.

 

[Idabow]

Last year we found several sheds in an area while elk hunting. Another day we were walking in the same trail and noticed a 5 point horn about shoulder high in a tree. Pretty sure he didn't drop it up there.

 

[Darktimber]

I have watched them lock up and try to twist off their antlers. This year I watched it happen. A 3x3 and a 3x4 locked up, the 3x4 twisted his neck and both his antlers went flying off. After the bucks left, I went in and picked them up. Here is the ATL:

I had been watching this group through the spotter every week and just happened to be in the right spot at the right time to witness a very cool thing.

 

[slickrock]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-18-12 AT 07:00PM (MST)[p]I don't think it's a real pleasant feeling for the critters. We often find elk beds in snow with small amounts of blood in them. I think once they shed they feel a little sick & lay down for a few hours. Makes you wonder if when the time comes they don't want their antlers off real bad.

Slick

"The Road goes on forever & the Party never Ends"

 

[keeneyes]

I would imagine it's like losing a tooth. No matter how much you tried, you couldn't quit messing with it. And yeah it didn't feel good but it didn't hurt too bad. I also have witnessed many critters shed. A year ago I was messing with my camera and out of the corner of my eye I saw the buck I was getting ready to film get spooked. I looked at the ground where he was standing. One was right there and when I got up there the other one was a foot or two off the ground right above it in a baby cedar tree. It was bittersweet even though I got the 200 plus set I was a little bummed.

 

[keeneyes]

Also Yelum I wanted to ask if you got those sheds?

 

[YELUM]

Keen, I was not able to get the set, but did get the other one. At 98 2/8, its my second biggest shed I've found. One of the ones I watched last year was my biggest.

Yelum