Deer shedding now

[Irina]

I've personally seen 3 mule bucks in my area and they have shed one antler already. A girl on facebook also found a moose paddle that has already dropped. Seems a little early. Anyone else notice this?

[SouthWestRanger]

I’ve seen some moose drop last few days of November, they tend to shed first, early for deer to shed though. There are exceptions, I’ve found whitetail sheds early December in the past.

[Dan4570]

Could be broke antlers in fights. A lot of mule deer are still going through their rut or just ended their rut. I’ve never found a mule shed this early and I’ve found thousands. If they’re shedding, probably a sick animal. It’s not natural to shed this early.

[elkhunter11]

I did see a one antlered mule deer on Sunday, but no idea if it ever had two antlers this year.

[Smoky buck]

Not normal for deer as the rut is still going. There is always strange exceptions to everything

[ceedub]

I was talking to a buddy about this today. I’ve got 2 young Whitetails on camera that shed this week. Not broke, 100% shed. Never seen it this early before.

Craig

[LeonH]

Last winter during my morning drive on the way into Edmonton for work I saw two occasions of roadkill (one white tail buck and one moose, different days but around same period) that had not shedded yet and it was well into late March. Both animals were missing complete heads when I drove past them back from work in afternoon. The buck was huge and the moose nothing special.

I would have never guessed that sometimes it takes that long for them to drop sheds. I guess it varies a lot from animal to animal by the sounds of it

[6.5 shooter]

Someone has to say it "Global warming"

[501s]

A friend of mine shot a bull Moose this past week and when it crashed, both Antlers just popped off. I kind of thought it was a joke, like he had cut them off for the pack out, but nope, they just fell right off.

[Dick284]

If a deer is shedding antlers now, the deer is sick or seriously stressed.

[Pioneer2]

Shot a small WT buck that ran full tilt into a big poplar popping both antlers out of the sockets. General tag so didn't matter.

[Phil McCracken]

Originally Posted by 501s

A friend of mine shot a bull Moose this past week and when it crashed, both Antlers just popped off. I kind of thought it was a joke, like he had cut them off for the pack out, but nope, they just fell right off.

So would he be considered "Antlerless"...

[waldedw]

Originally Posted by Phil McCracken

So would he be considered "Antlerless"...

No he would be considered a TRANS moose or Gender Neutral

[AdamJ]

Would be interesting to hear about the areas where this is occurring. In our area, there is absolutely no snow and hasn't been any for the entire month. The ponds/dugouts are frozen and the ground is as dry as can be. I wonder if lack of proper hydration has anything to do with this?

[KGB]

Had a client yesterday from the north of Edmonton, she said they have deer coming in droves to the cattle watering station to have a drink…. They also have no snow on a ground.

[Irina]

Originally Posted by AdamJ

Would be interesting to hear about the areas where this is occurring. In our area, there is absolutely no snow and hasn't been any for the entire month. The ponds/dugouts are frozen and the ground is as dry as can be. I wonder if lack of proper hydration has anything to do with this?

I've been thinking this myself. No water anywhere, sloughs frozen and no snow.

[badbrass]

Me too!

[creeky]

Originally Posted by AdamJ

Would be interesting to hear about the areas where this is occurring. In our area, there is absolutely no snow and hasn't been any for the entire month. The ponds/dugouts are frozen and the ground is as dry as can be. I wonder if lack of proper hydration has anything to do with this?

X4- thats a smart supposition.

Ditto on knowing the areas phenomenon is being observed.


Creeky....


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[AB2506]

Originally Posted by SouthWestRanger

I’ve seen some moose drop last few days of November, they tend to shed first, early for deer to shed though. There are exceptions, I’ve found whitetail sheds early December in the past.

I've seen a moose shed it's antlers in the second week of April.

[Rvsask]

I’ve picked some up in December for a couple decades.

However, I think there is something to be said about their dehydration currently.

[MyAlberta]

wonder if rut success has anything to do with it, or maybe bucks that missed thier chances.

[6.5 shooter]

Biggest Muley buck here still has his horns, all the little bucks have shed theirs already. Maybe because they were able to travel more freely with no snow to slow them down the deed has been done and they are just shedding the extra weight? The river here is still wide open but there is very little water anywhere else, so the water issue still may be a factor as well.