Why do bucks shed their antlers

When that occurs, hot does will still be popping up later in winter, and rutting bucks will be chasing them. One researcher working with captive deer suggested that bucks in poor nutritional condition, or those that are diseased, shed their antlers earlier than they would had they been healthier. Poor nutrition causes testosterone levels to drop and, as mentioned earlier, when testosterone drops, so do antlers.

Other researchers have found that older bucks often shed earlier, and suggest that this is due to the physical toll on their bodies paid during the rut. Thus, when the rut ends, if they are really run down, their testosterone levels drop faster than normal. Tied to this poor-nutrition theory is habitat. If habitat is over-browsed, then the body condition of bucks in the area will be poor. Since we know that testosterone levels drop when the bucks are undernourished, then poor habitat might also cause them to drop antlers earlier.

In turn, I would suspect that deep early snows, which would limit food intake, also impact the time that antlers drop. In fact, studies show that farther North, where snows are heavier, antlers begin to drop from mid-December to late January. If poor nutrition leads to early shedding, then good nutrition should lead to late drops — right? Thus, they keep their antlers longer. Good nutrition leads to one other factor that causes bucks to keep their antlers later in winter.

The information presented on this page was originally released on January 29, It may not be outdated, but please search our site for more current information. If you plan to quote or reference this information in a publication, please check with the Extension specialist or author before proceeding. By Dr. So, why do deer have antlers? Often, people think bucks have antlers to fend off predators or to impress girlfriends. While both of these reasons may be true to some small extent, the main reason bucks have antlers is to fight with other bucks for dominance.

Antlers also provide leverage when bucks engage in a shoving match to determine which is the strongest. Questions always arise about the antler cycle of deer. In this column, I want to explain the antler cycle and discuss a few factors that influence premature shedding of antlers.

Antler growth typically takes off in early spring as days lengthen and temperatures warm. Antlers are actually bone tissue, and while they are growing, they are covered with a soft, hairy layer of skin called velvet. This velvet supplies blood and nutrients to the fast-growing antler bone tissue. Young bucks, like this one in Clintondale, Ulster County, devote most of their nutrition to body growth.

When they reach full-size, their antlers begin to develop more extensively. In early winter, rutting season ends, and his antlers have done their job. Occasionally, a deer may drop their antlers earlier because of poor health, scarce food, or other reasons.

Fallen autumn leaves, snow, or growing grasses and other vegetation in spring may help to camouflage the shed antlers, sometimes making them hard to distinguish from fallen branches.