No Antlers

What happens when you are on your late season buck hunt in North Idaho and the buck you harvest is missing his antlers?

This very thing just happened to a good friend of ours on is hunt. According to his report, last Saturday morning, Jarred walked threw six inches of snow and climbed up his tree stand to wait for day break. As the quiet morning woke up Jarred spotted a nice whitetail buck working through the open patches of timber toward him. This was a nice mature 5X5 with good mass. Jarred first ranged him at 60 yards and then waited for the buck to close the gap to more realistic shooting range. After Jarred made a very well placed shot on the buck, he gave it sometime before retrieving his winter harvest. When he went to go find his trophy he walked up to what looks like a slick head, a doe with No antlers on it's head. As Jarred took a closer look he noticed two white spots where the antlers had sat. Jarred then walked the tracks back and picked up both sheds.

Tom, I've heard of this happening before, but it is a pretty rare occurrence. About 15 years ago an old family friend was also out on a late archery hunt and had a similar thing happen to him. He shot at a nice 6x6 whitetail, the buck jumped the string and it was a clean miss. As he watched the buck bounce over a log, both antlers fell off simultaneously. Bucks often lose their horns anywhere from thanksgiving to early may. As days get shorter, bucks testosterone levels drop and kicks this phenomenon into gear. Often time's unhealthy or stressed animals lose their antlers first and healthier deer will keep them longer.