People often tell us that they regularly see does and fawns in their neighborhood but hardly ever see a buck. “Where are they?” they ask.
Deer thrive in suburban and urban areas throughout the country. Although does are often seen, sighting antlered bucks is rare. Even massive ones with wide spreading antlers have the uncanny ability to stay out of sight in the midst of the city.
The best evidence of big bucks is a shed antler. Male deer begin growing them in early spring. By September they are full size and are used through the fall for sparring with other males and to bang against trees. Often the mere size of a buck’s antlers intimidates smaller rivals.
A male fawn is called a button buck and its antlers are tiny stubs that rarely protrude above the hair. For the next four or five years his antlers will be bigger every year but as the buck reaches old age his new antlers decrease in size each year.
Antlers are firmly attached the skull, but by late December the bond begins to weaken. Sometime between Christmas and late March they fall off the deer’s head, and for a short while the animal is antlerless. Most antlers drop in February and March, but usually the largest bucks drop theirs in late December and January.
Antlers are mostly composed of calcium. Rodents love chewing on them and recycle the minerals into their own bodies. By summer most shed antlers are gone.
Hunting sheds is a popular mid to late winter hobby. Some homeowners are lucky enough to discover one in the back yard, but usually it takes a search through an area with a high deer population. Predicting where sheds will be is difficult but often they are near a ravine or fence where the deer jumped. The slight jarring during a jump causes the antlers to drop off. Best shed hunting happens right after the snow melts in late winter. Shed antlers are usually white and get buried in fluffy snow. As soon as it melts they are visible from a longer distance. Binoculars can help find one.
So “Shed” your mid-winter blues, bundle up the kids and go outside on a deer “shed search.”
