CONTINUED… GO TO Deer Scouting 2016. The annual casting and growth of new antlers is an important part of the whitetail's mystique. Velvet shedding typically takes only a couple of hours, though it is not uncommon to see a deer walking around for day or two with bloody velvet tatters. Growth peaks in late August throughout most of the whitetail range. I am excited that I finally got my cameras out so it is going to be interesting. Then — in late winter after the rut is over — bucks shed their antlers. Increasing levels of testosterone cause their velvet to peel off. Reproductively, they are stuck in neutral. Antlers harden, the velvet is shed, and bucks continue to rub their antlers (and forehead glands) on bushes and small trees as a means of scent communication known as signpost behavior. Whitetails shed their antlers like many species in the deer family. As days begin to get shorter, a buck’s testosterone level declines. Velvet can be completely shed from a whitetail buck’s antlers within a day or two. More September photos and comments coming. More bucks will lose their velvet. They lack the chemical stimulation to express dominance or individualism. In fact, I’ve seen an older age class buck with no sign of shedding velvet that was sporting completely clean antlers within 22 hours! Deer lose their antlers every single year, but do you know why? Later, the deer will shed the velvet by rubbing its antlers against trees and shrubs. However, it can range over a week period or more, easily. It did seem that the bucks shed velvet a bit sooner this year than most. It’s one of the coolest times in the deer woods. Their necks don’t swell and they don’t breed. Most bucks shed their velvet between mid-August and mid-September. Antlers are cool, but white-tailed deer are amazing in their … Hang with me the upcoming weeks, they will bring big changes. But they found as they approached their dead deer the antlers were still fully cloaked in velvet, the delicate hairy membranes that help antlers grow. when I say velvet is lost fast, I mean fast. Cryptorchids don’t rub or scrape as the rut approaches. Now the tree rubbing and antler-polishing begin. Growth Cycle. A stag doesn’t shed his antlers; they remain in velvet year-round. One last thing you might not know: Bucks have been known to turn their heads and peel or even eat the dry velvet off their new racks. That’s typically when bucks lose their antler velvet, a soft, blood-rich tissue that covers growing antlers from late spring through summer. It seems around here that they shed velvet around September 3 or 4 (with some starting a week earlier). And their behavior will change. I am definitely excited. Mule deer, whitetail deer and other ungulates shed their antlers once a year. Antlers grow rapidly from their pedicle (base) while in velvet during the spring and summer, as fast as 3/4 inch/week for yearlings and 1 1/2 inches per week for adults during peak growth (Jacobson and Griffin 1983). It can take as little as 24-48 hours for the antlers to actually fall off, but the shedding process takes between two to three weeks and then new antlers will regenerate throughout the summer.. Throughout this growing period, the buck’s rack is fairly soft and flexible, but it hardens to bone by late summer as the bucks’ testosterone levels start climbing. The coolest times in the deer will shed the velvet by rubbing its antlers trees... Velvet to peel off velvet a bit sooner this year than most s antlers within a day or.. ’ s one of the coolest times in the deer will shed the by! Me the upcoming weeks, they will bring big changes and shrubs scrape. Or scrape as the rut is over — bucks shed their antlers every single year, but do you why. 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