Deer Dropping Sheds

[deershed]

There's some things while your outdoors you don't get to experience very often,some you can consider youself down right lucky to experience.
Twice I was lucky enough to see a deer loose his antler(s)
The first time my brother and I were bowhunting mid-jan. in Md. We were putting on small 2 man drives.We had just finished a small drive and were regrouping when a nice buck came running down this hill towards us.He was out of range running along a chain link fence,when he saw us he turned and tried going though the fence.He paced back and forth along the fence hitting the fence several times when all of a sudden one of his antlers popped off.He gathered himself and took off leaving us with half his rack and a memory the two of us will never forget.
The second time I was alone out shed hunting when I walked up on some doe and a small 6pt.
When they took off running the buck jumped some logs and one of his antlers went flying.I marked the spot and continued watching him run off down though the open woods I was in.He ran about 100 yards or so then started shaking his head from side to side.It was like he knew one half had fell off and he was trying to get rid of the other half.
Well,it wasn't too long later the other half went flying too!!
There was patches of snow on the ground at the time and he was going though some at the time when the second half dropped.I marked that spot and went straight to that one first.I couldn't find shed at first then saw tines sticking out of snow.The first antler that dropped was laying just past the logs and was easy to find.
I feel real lucky to have been in the right place at the right time on two different occasions.
Anyone else ever been so lucky??

 

[snoopdogg]

Only on an Eastman's video, a good muley was hopping along and BAM! Both fell off at the same time. Very cool.

 

[Brotherwolf]

LOL, I'll have to check that out snoopdogg! I've never seen one actually fall off! that would be like getting hit by lightning or something right?

 

[Shag]

I think anyone's that actually seen the antlers fly off a buck should've run to the convenience store and bought all the lottery tickets you could get your hands on. I amount of time that transpires in the casting of antler is probably one or two seconds. What are the odds? For you elk fans, has anyone seen that "famous" Jerry Lamar photo entitled "The Antler Toss"? It's a cool photo--I've got one framed and matted in my family room. A bul elk has just shaken his rack loose and both antlers are in mid-air about half way to the ground. Another bull is standing there looking at him with that "What-the-****" look on his face. It's really a great photo. I got it through the "Bugle" magazine--Journal of the Rocky Mt. Elk Foundation".

 

[Boss Gobbler]

I once was pulling in the driveway at a spot where I feed deer in the winter and I saw a buck on the left of the driveway just getting ready to cross and by the time I got to the end of the driveway where I walk about 30 yards to put out the corn, I just put the truck in park and I could see some brush moving on the edge of the woods and out popped the buck with only one antler on. This elapsed time from when I saw him, pulling up the driveway and parking was maybe 90 seconds. I got him on video after he stepped out of the woods with only one side on. I was hoping he would drop the other half on film but no such luck. He did come and eat some corn, the whole time acting like having only one antler really bugged him as he was shaking his head side to side and rotating it in a circle like he was somewhat disoriented. I found the one side right away, needless to say and a buddy found the other half several days later. At this same spot, me and the same buddy had found matched pairs from two different bucks for four years in a row.
That's the closest I've ever come to actually seeing a deer shed a horn within view.

 

[deershed]

You guys are making it look like I made it all up.

I'm not.
I know the odds are slim of actually getting to see it happen,but thought at least a few others witnessed it themselves too.
When ever I'm out shed hunting and see buck that still have antlers. I always watch them as long as I can just in case one would drop.I get side tracked all the time following and watching instead of shed hunting.
Last week I was out and had two buck coming up this hill at me.They had no idea I was there til they got about 40 yds. from me.When the bigger of the two saw me it stopped in it's tracks and started the head-bob thing.About that time I jumped up and he took off back down the hill 90 mile an hour.He was smacking brush and limbs the whole way back down the hill.He hit one limb so solid with his rack that it jarred his head back,but never dropped an antler.Never hurts to try and help them out.

BTW-I thought it was on Realtree on the Home Video segment.A guy sent in footage of a bull elk running when it dropped.Not sure though and not sure if it dropped one or both.

Shag-I believe I saw a copy of that same photo your talking about.I thought the photo was taken in Yellowstone.The one I saw,I saw some 20 yrs ago!!

Boss Gobbler-the six point I saw drop acted just like the buck you were talking about after he dropped the one side.I got the impression he knew the one side was gone and he was trying to shake the other one off.When the second one dropped he stopped shaking his head.
That buck only had a small rack maybe 9-10 inch spread.The other buck that only dropped the one side,he was maybe 16-17 inch spread and he didn't act funny at all after dropping one side.

 

[Shag]

Boss Gobbler, are you serious? Multiple sheds from several years, from the same bucks, dropped in the same area every year? man, that's pretty interesting. I know a guy who found antlers from 3 years from the same buck in the same vicinity. One other fella I know found two sets off a really nice buck (same buck, no question) in about a 1/2 acre area the first time he went in there to look. Has anyone else had experiences like this with an individual buck shedding in the same "spot" more than once? I've heard from people that raise deer or work with them have told me an individual buck casts his antlers just about the same time every season within a few days.