Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Deer antlers.

Hello.

Have you ever found Deer antlers.

I found these Deer antlers this spring in a vernal pool in the wood.

https://ibb.co/C5vg7fB

https://ibb.co/sK5ybRV

Around what date do Deer lose their antlers.
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More older 2 girls call it shed hunting. They have made trap for it also. By taking old tires and putting a wire across the top. They lure them in with random food in the bottom of it so they get them caught in there and they fall off. Not sure the time of year for this. I can just imagine and deer walking around with a tire on its head lol.

Here in Central Ohio, most antlers are probably lost in February.

Azteca,

My daughters also like to look for shed antlers.

IMHO, it doesn't matter what time of year they shed, the most important factor is when your ground is most barren - so you can SEE the antlers!

(My bucks in Kansas shed over a 2 month period, although most seem to drop around the same time.)

I once shot what I thought was a large doe during muzzleloader. It turned out to be a shed buck in December. It was in very good body condition and fairly young so I am not sure what caused the early shed. Dog found this shed with over a 6" circumference base a few years ago. I never saw it while hunting or on the trail cam, and have never taken one with this kind of mass. Note the pen in the pic for scale. G2 is over 9", and G3 over 8".

Here in central Mo they lose them around Jan and Feb, I fond one directly in front of my game camera in early Jan last year, it still had a bright red blood ring so really fresh bt Ive seen them with one or both antlers still intact thru late Feb.
My friend took a dog and trained it to hunt sheds, He took him out to Co and went shed hunting for a week, nearly filled the back of a little pickup bed with whitetail, muley and elk sheds. I guess there's money to be made from them.

"My friend took a dog and trained it to hunt sheds, He took him out to Co and went shed hunting for a week, nearly filled the back of a little pickup bed with whitetail, muley and elk sheds."

RAH's dog found a shed (based on interesting smell?) and you know of a dog trained to find sheds!

Dogs truly are man's best friend!


P.S. Please let me know when you have a buddy whose dog points the LMB and BG in a pond. I could definitely use a puppy from that dog's litter!

Shed antlers don't last long here in Misery. The squirrels eat them like candy.

I found one this year that would of had 7 points on it but the squirrels chewed one off and another almost off.

Squirrels eat our sheds up as well here in Indiana. Found several chewed up. They last longer when they are dropped away from trees.

Hello.

So lucky he was in the water, otherwise he would have been eating.

Here, they said that the old Deer lose their antlers first around December, and the youngest around January and February.
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I found this this morning.

https://ibb.co/JmQSpj4
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Nice set!

How did you train your deer to drop them on the dock? Must make the sheds a lot easier to find.

Wow, had no idea PB had a shed thread. I love looking for them. Trying to train my dog to find them (with some limited success).

I had a buddy with a pitbull that was an inveterate chewer. He always wanted my sheds because it took the dog much longer to work them down to nubs.

If you gave your dog sheds as "chew toys", do you think that would help the dog search for them?

No clue the right way to train a dog. Mine was a pup last summer and I kept antlers around as toys, but never as a chew toy. When I take him shed hunting now if I see one I'll stop and just wait until he finds it, then he brings it to me. So far he hasn't found one that I hadn't seen first but every one he's found he's brought to me. Lots of praise for him when he does that.

What we've found so far and the pup.

That's a good doggie!

Wow.

What are you doing with all those deer antlers.
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they make excellent dog chew toys, Elk antlers too.

I throw them on the piles at the bases of my antler trees. No particular good use, just something I like to play with once in a while.

This buck still had antlers as of March 19th.

I am not sure he is going to shed until new ones start growing underneath?

Last edited by FishinRod; 04/27/22 01:37 PM.

Yep. Have found them more than once in the rear tractor tire while working ground. Usually entails a call to the tire repair guy to come out in his truck. Not fun if it is the inside dual.

Some we have picked up.


https://ibb.co/X5zWv86

https://i.ibb.co/LzKMqL7/003-DE88-E-2911-424-F-A7-C9-4-AB6-CEEAB1-F2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/HdFbRD1/4-D19-A5-F2-0-D9-A-46-DA-A74-E-99-ED31-CAF903.jpg

Top one on display looks nice!