COMMENTARY BY DR. DAVE SAMUEL
It’s that time of the year when deer drop their antlers. What causes bucks to shed their antlers every year and when does it usually happen?
Shedding is controlled by a male hormone called testosterone, but many factors affect the increase and decrease of testosterone in a buck. During the rut, a buck’s testosterone level is high, as is his aggression. He’s running around like crazy, looking for and chasing does. He’s fighting with other bucks and wearing down in the process. As long as there are hot does around, his testosterone levels will remain high, but after the rut, testosterone begins to decrease. When it reaches a certain level, the antlers will fall off. However, it isn’t that simple. Many factors affect a buck’s testosterone levels. Thus, a whole series of variables play a role in antler shedding.
I can’t remember when I’ve seen so many Facebook postings on antlers being shed in December and early January. December is early for bucks to be shedding their antlers and early January is, too. So, what’s going on?
The question of what causes the antlers to fall off, and exactly when they will, has been bantered about for years. Some say cold weather triggers antlers to drop. Others say that a hot spell and hot weather causes antlers to drop. Hmmm. Some say the older bucks lose their antlers first. Some say that injured bucks lose their antlers first. Some say that bucks that have poor nutrition drop antlers first. Others say the most dominant, big bucks do. The bottom line is that antlers can be found dropping off from mid-December to early April and many factors can be at play.
One researcher in Mississippi suggested that bucks in poor nutritional condition, or those that are diseased, shed their antlers earlier than they would if they were on good nutrition. Poor nutrition and poor body condition causes testosterone to drop, and as mentioned earlier, when testosterone drops, so do antlers.
Several factors lead to poor nutrition, but habitat quality is the most obvious one. Researchers have concluded that antler retention is a good measure of the habitat. If the antlers drop later, those bucks live in good habitat. If bucks tend to drop earlier, suchas mid-December to mid-January, those bucks live in poor habitat.
Sounds straight forward, but all bucks don’t read the book.
I think habitat quality is quite variable in West Virginia. Some areas have too many deer and are over browsed. Those areas don’t provide deer enough of the best nutrition. Other areas in West Virginia have good habitat. Last fall, we had good mast in many areas, with lots of healthy acorns still on the ground in December. In those areas, one would think that early antler drop would not occur. If there are too many does in an area, the habitat could be over browsed and food resources could be limited. One would think then that this would lead to poor nutrition and antler drop. However, the harvested bucks I’ve seen this past hunting season, albeit a small sample, were all in excellent health and carrying good layers of fat. Maybe I was just making observations where hunters understand the need to harvest does.
Another variable that affects whether deer are getting enough good quality food is weather. Early snows would limit food intake and could impact the time antlers drop off. More heavy early snows, earlier antler drops. In fact, studies show that further north, where snows are heavier, antlers begin to drop from mid-December to late January. December snow amounts vary a great deal in West Virginia with fairly high amounts in the mountains and much less at lower elevations. Depending on where you live, snow cover could affect the amount of quality food a buck gets, and thus affect his testosterone and the time of antler drop. Overall, we haven’t had much deep snow in West Virginia so far, so I don’t think that is causing early antler shedding.
Older bucks that are chasing does, not eating and fighting other bucks would have reduced body condition, and when the rut ends, if they are really run down, their testosterone levels drop faster than normal, and this leads to casting of antlers. Seems reasonable.
If bucks stay in rut, testosterone levels won’t drop, nor will the antlers. High doe numbers might mean that all does do not get bred during the November rut. If that is the case, then we’ll have hot does popping up in mid-December, and rutting bucks will be chasing. This would keep their testosterone high, and antlers could drop late. (Of course, if there are high doe numbers, then the habitat might be bad, leading to poor body condition, and early drop of antlers. Phew! So many variables).
It’s obvious that not all bucks read the books, so we might see bucks with antlers late, or see some with no antlers very early. The question of why some bucks drop early, and some late is not an easy one to answer, but poor body condition appears to be a major factor. Yes, there is a lot going on out there that will impact when a buck drops his antlers. Nobody said this would be easy.
Dr. Samuel is a retired wildlife professor from West Virginia University. His outdoor columns have appeared, and continue to appear, in Bowhunter magazine and the Whitetail Journal. If you have questions or comments on wildlife and conservation issues, email him at drdave4@comcast.net.
