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| Yearling Spike: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS L II @ 135mm-ISO 400-1/400 sec. F 5.0 |
Each year one hears about hunters shooting what they
assumed was a doe, only to find on close examination it was a buck that
had already shed its' antlers. Most whitetail bucks in our area shed
their antlers in early February. I have seen bucks that just lost their
antlers in late December and early January. but it was not until this
year that I was present when a spike buck lost both of his antlers in
mid-December.
The buck is a small spike that did not
disperse from his family group this fall and I have seen him almost
daily since he was a fawn. I saw him late in the afternoon of December
16th, as I was setting the cameras up and he still had both antlers.
Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw that one antler was
missing. I tried to photograph him, but before I could get a shot he
ran behind some other deer and when he was visible again, both antlers
were gone. I did get some shots of the area where the antler attaches to
the skull which is known as the pedicle. I wish I had a closer shot,
but it was not possible. As it is the photo below is severely cropped.
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| Pedicle: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm F 4.0-ISO 200-1/2500 sec. F 4.5 |
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| Spike After Shedding: Canon 5D MK III-Canon600mm F 4.0-ISO 400-1/800 sec. F 5.0 |
There was a bit of snow on the ground and I searched
for the antlers, but it soon grew too late to see well and I gave up.
It snowed more that night and the ground was snow covered until Friday
when the ground was bare again and I found one of the antlers.
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| Shed Antler: Panasonic GH3-Lumix 17-140mm@25mm-ISO 200-1/60 sec. F 7.1 |
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| Shed Antler: Panasonic GH3-Lumix 17-140mm@140mm-ISO 200-1/40 sec. F 9.0 |
Sometimes bucks shed their antlers simultaneously or
as in this case a few moments apart, but in other instances it can be
days. The antlers in the photo below were found in mid-April of last
year. They were evidently cast only a few seconds apart.
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| Mature 8-Point Rack 2012-Found In Mid-April |
In
the case of the spike, it is possible I could have filmed an antler
actually falling off had I kept the video camera running and followed
him from the time he appeared, but that was not to be. It is possible
to film antlers being shed, but it has to either be a lucky accident
and they just happen to fall off at the correct time or it has to be
captured by an unmanned camera as humans do not have the time or the
patience to keep a camera running that long.
Originally Published at
Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.
