Deer velvet question

[Danibeth]

Question for those more in the know. And YES I understand this is two different parts of the country, but I am still curious.

I hunted in Montana much of September and again for a week in October (actually got to miss Michael since I flew out just before he graced FL with his presence). When we got to our sage grousing lands in central MT, we ran across these two lovelies. Mid September and these two are enjoying the pleasures of downtown.





I was kind of surprised to see one hard horned and one in velvet. So my question is how long does it take for deer to slough their velvet? It seemed kind of late in the year to me to see one still in velvet up there, but clearly it wasn't for that fella. Do all bucks generally lose their velvet within say a two week period during the year or is it just a long, ongoing process over a couple of months?

Danibeth

[big bend gyrene]

Here's my .02 for whatever it's worth and it's relative to whitetails as I'm not well studied on any other deer species... and will add I welcome being corrected if anyone thinks I'm off course.

Shedding is triggered as fall approaches, daylight begins decreasing, and testosterone levels increase with rut approaching. While fall and daylight levels would have bucks shedding at the same time, testosterone levels will vary from buck to buck and are impacted by things such as age, general health condition, and especially malformations and / or injuries to... uhmmmm... an especially *sensitive* area.

It's not unheard of for does to grow antlers (and often they stay in velvet) due to hormone imbalances, and bucks with cryptorchidism (testicles remain in the abdominal cavity / never descend into the scrotum) or bucks with injuries to their testicles often will have lower testosterone levels that impair shedding.

All the above shared, the deer in the photo you shared look healthy enough I bet it was just natural variation / maybe age based. I DO see some natural variation among the deer at my place I attribute to natural variation. I'll note some haven't shed while others have, and then by the next camera card pull I make they'll all have horns hardened. Happens every year.

Link below does pretty good job speaking in general to horn development and velvet shedding.

http://www.realtree.com/deer-hunting/ga ... t-shedding

[big bend gyrene]

Then again, looking at the second picture maybe the one in velvet isn't quite as good of jumper as the other... and paid a painful price.

[zload]

I once killed a FL whitetail in full velvet in late December. Turned out he had been castrated or had some accident/birth defect, that was probably 30+ years ago and the horns still have the velvet on them. I've heard tales of old timers catching fawns and cutting them like a hog but don't know if that is true or just pineywood redneck lore. Your photos don't even seem to indicate the velvet is starting to shed or has signs of being rubbed so I'm guessing something similar with him.

Love those mulies

[Salty Gator]

I once killed a FL whitetail in full velvet in late December. Turned out he had been castrated or had some accident/birth defect, that was probably 30+ years ago and the horns still have the velvet on them. I've heard tales of old timers catching fawns and cutting them like a hog but don't know if that is true or just pineywood redneck lore. Your photos don't even seem to indicate the velvet is starting to shed or has signs of being rubbed so I'm guessing something similar with him.

Love those mulies

I bet that was a cryptorchid like bbg mentioned. The testicles would be smaller than normal and somewhere between the kidneys and the groin. Unless you were really looking for them, you probably wouldn’t find them. Sometimes one will drop and the other will be retained. The one and only hog I ever killed was a unilateral cryptorchid.


Cool pics Dannibeth

[Danibeth]

Very interesting and thanks for the link. Thanks a lot guys. We stayed there in that area for 10 days and that first day was the only day we saw those two boys so I don't know if he eventually did have a mass velvet shed-a-thon or not.

So I assume that if it is testicular damage of some sort, they won't be affected by the rut as much or at all?