Shedding Light on Hunting Shed Antlers

We’ve all spent hours searching for sheds in the places we usually hunt, hoping to finding sheds from the bucks that frequent the area.

- Joel Hofer

We know there were mature bucks there in summer, fall and throughout rifle season. Yet we have very little success finding a single mature buck antler in the area come spring. Why?

We’ve also checked the south sides of hills and ridges, in bedding and feeding areas, and along fence lines or river banks, etc. We’ll find a few stray sheds in all of these locations, but still come home largely empty-handed. Again, why?

The simple answer is a lack of understanding about deer behavior. To explain why favorite hunting spots are sometimes devoid of sheds, let’s go back to the rut, because that’s where it all begins. What happens after the rut directly affects the antler shedding process.

Before the rut takes place, bachelor groups of deer establish a hierarchy. Each buck knows his place in this group before the rut. It minimizes fighting. When the pre-rut arrives, the buck at the top of the hierarchy has first dibs on does that come into heat. The next ranking bucks are second and so on.

While bigger bucks dominate the pre-rut, all their chasing after does takes a serious toll on them. When the primary rut arrives in November, they are already running out of steam, and must sometimes call it quits before the primary rut is over. This gives other bucks a chance to breed the does still in heat and dominate the post rut in December.