PA GOBBLER

when i first read this, i said no way... BUT w/ my own eyes last night while spotting i saw a nice white horned no velvet 8pt.. i couldnt believe it.. wonder whats going on???

PABowhntr

I have seen the deer sheddin' their summer coats arleady but none of the ones I have seen while spottin' or on the deer cams have shed any of the velvet on their antlers.

ccm352

I just got my next set of trail cam pictures back.. My bucks are all still in velvet and the coats are even more shaggier than they were last week.

WNY Bowhunter

I saw 4 bucks this morning and they were all still in full velvet. It won't be too long before the velvet starts coming off though...it's looks a dull grayish-brown colored now, not shiny and dark brown like it was a month ago. I checked the bucks over pretty good and didn't notice any serious coat shedding yet, the red summer coat still looked like it did a month ago.

PABowhntr

Do you see any shed velvet on this one? This was from last week but I am sure the issue could have changed since then. I am going to get a roll developed tomorrow so we will see if any of them have started.

quiksilver

I'm guessing that we're only seeing this in very isolated instances. As I noted earlier, I spotted almost 40 bucks the other night, and saw only one that was shedding.

PA GOBBLER

i too saw 6 bucks spotting and only one that didnt.. i was shocked when i saw it..and i understand the people that dont believe it.. i didnt myself till i saw it

Bill Yox

Those bucks arent shedding velvet in the normal sense. While you can never say "never" in nature, its just not time yet. Any buck you saw with true exposed antler would be an exception for sure, or more likely a buck that damaged his velvet similar to what they call "degloving". The antler underneath the living velvet is getting hard enough to protrude through the velvet from an accident, or for the velvet to prematurely peel back. The antlers right now are in the process of mineralizing, or hardening. Usually the brow tines and most of the rest of the rack is hardening, and shrinking. Some growth will still be occurring, like along a drop tine, the end of the main beam, base points and even the rosette. The buck pictured by PABowhntr shows a young buck that is still showing some growth. See the smooth shiny bulbous tips on his points and main beam? Thats growing antler. If a deer were to damage and peel away velvet now, the antler will still be a bit porous and likely break and chip away, especially at the tips, and become much darker without that shiny gloss. The hardening process, along with the shedding and growing the winter coat as the summer coat casts is all triggered by photoperiodism. Hot, dry or wet weather or how expensive gas is will not effect this. Not even you guys wishing away the summer to get deer season here sooner, lol! Hope this helps you guys.

quiksilver

Saw another one cleaned last night. I spotted about 15 buck, and had a 14-16" eight point stroll right across somebody's back yard. His horns were cleaned, but still a little yellowed. He had no evidence of a busted up rack, no trace of velvet left, unlike the deer I saw last week. This guy was clean.

The other deer I saw in the same area were all still in velvet, and some were still growing. This one, however, was done.

Bill Yox

Hey quicksilver, just a question for you. Please dont take this wrong, Im just checking...were you sure what you saw was clean bare antler bone? I ask because sometimes under a light the velvet can appear very light colored, or even shiny this late in the year. I trust your word and dont think you are BSing, Im just asking honestly. That animal truly IS the exception to the rules, Id say.