Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Whitetail Bucks Shed Velvet-More Elk Info.

Whitetail Buck: This Buck Shed Velvet Within Last Few Days

The vast majority of the whitetail bucks in our area shed their velvet during late August and early September. It is usually the larger bucks that shed first, but this is not a hard and fast rule.

First the velvet cracks and bloody spots appear. Soon after, the velvet peels off in strips. The animals usually hasten this along by rubbing tress and saplings.

Blood spots and Cracks



Underling Antler Shows Through

Further Information On Bull Involved In Swing Incident

While editing photos from the recent Benezette trip, I found some shots of the bull from the August 20th swing incident, browsing on a tree in Benezette early in the morning on August 18th.

Tuesday August 18th

Look closely at the 2nd point from the base of the right antler, and notice how long it is, and how the tip is blunted off. This is the factor that stands out most, but the rest of the rack configuration matches exactly as well. There is no doubt that this is the same animal.

Browsing

Thursday August 20th

Hopefully this animal will learn from the unpleasant experience and go on to be one of Pennsylvania's premier bulls.

9 comments:

Helen said...

What an amazing mess this elk got himself into. Glad that he could be rescued and will hopefully be ok. Helen

SaraG said...

Beautiful pictures, Willard!
The elk just wanted to swing a little!! I bet he sure didn't think he would get into such a tangled mess. Glad he was able to be rescued!!
John is recovering well come his surgery. He went to work this morning to look at a couple of jobs, but is being good about not lifting and bending. He had a hernia in his belly button and since he works as a plumber they wanted to get it fixed before it became a bigger problem!
Glad we are done with it now.
You take care and keep in touch.
Just love all your pictures and posts!!

Ken Conger Photography said...

Have been away from blogging awhile and enjoyed reading your posts. The comprehensive elk rescue is a nice piece of work. This most recent post is exceptionally done. Nice work. Blue Skies.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Willard: What a nice capture of the animal after the encounter. Very nice close-up work on the velvet.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Willard: I meant before the encounter, I love your video below, reminds me of the work you did on your DVD release.

Peggy said...

I liked how you showed just how thick the velvet is and the textures. Thanks for the education!

Anonymous said...

simply beautifully captured shots....lovely!

DeniseinVA said...

Amazing photos and video. So glad this beautiful animal was rescued.

Anonymous said...

Amazingly close photos of the shedding antlers. Very nice.
Yes, hopefully this bull will learn from this experience and stay safe.....and also thrive for many years to come. Great photos.