Do late-dropping antlers affect next year’s rack?
QUESTION: I have noticed several bucks in the last two years near the New York/Pennsylvania border area hanging onto their antlers into March and April. Knowing that deer in our area start antler growth sometime around May, I wonder if it has any impact on their antler growth for the upcoming season? — Wade W.
ANSWER: There are several factors influencing when bucks shed their antlers including age, nutrition, health and a few things we don’t fully understand. In general, older bucks shed earlier, although that isn’t always the case. Deer that are stressed by poor nutrition or severe winter conditions sometimes shed earlier.
The general mechanism that triggers shedding is the same one that triggers antler growth. Changes in daylight prompt physiological changes in the form of hormone production. In the case of shedding, an abscission layer forms at the base of the antler, the connective tissue dies and the antler drops off.
New antler growth actually begins as soon as the old antler drops. However, it is very slow at first and increases as the days grow longer in late spring. That’s why late shedding should have little or no negative impact on antler growth the following season.
It’s sort of like turkey eggs. A hen only lays one egg per day until her clutch is complete, which could take a week or more, depending on how many eggs she lays. Still, the whole clutch will hatch within a day.
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