Must be dropping them

[Elkstuffer]

Boy Woody that seems early for those deer to be shedding. I've seen them packing head gear on easter in years past. Every year is different though. Post some pic's when you find'em.

[woodywsu]

With them fighting, they were more knocked off then fell off. I will post pics if I get the good ones. There are a few dandies there. I plan on going tonight.

[Elkstuffer]

Well, were you able to find any?

[woodywsu]

One nice 4 point shed in about 10 minutes of looking. Some one else from this site was out there also and picked up an old one.

[wastickslinger]

Lucky dogs

[mossback91]

all the deer in okanogan county are still packin

[wastickslinger]

They are here too. I have seen them in April packing in the Desert. Always gonna have an early dropper or two.

[Pathfinder101]

I saw a 5 point bull elk drop one last turkey season (April 15th).  I got that shed too.  But the other 5 bulls he was with were already growing new racks.  Like I said earlier, I have glassed several hundred deer in the last week or so and haven't seen a single antler.

[woodywsu]

I'm at work and don't have a pic of it. I will try to get one up over the weekend. However, there is something weird about this shed. It's bleached white already and I know its fresh. I've watched the buck lost it in a fight. What causes these antlers to turn so white so fast? Do you think it is a deficiency of something? 

[blacktail luv]

My dad and I hunted this one blacktail about ten years ago.  He was a big 4by but his horns wer almost bone white.  Saw him twice and so did a guy hunting mushrooms in the area.  He thought it was really strange too.  It was a blacktail and there horns are always dark it seems, not sure the reasoning, havn't seen one like that since.

[509er]

alot of Desert bucks have light colored antlers, some almost white.

[wastickslinger]

I'm at work and don't have a pic of it. I will try to get one up over the weekend. However, there is something weird about this shed. It's bleached white already and I know its fresh. I've watched the buck lost it in a fight. What causes these antlers to turn so white so fast? Do you think it is a deficiency of something? 

Maybe you picked up the wrong one. Guess I need to go for a drive. 

Like 509er said, lots of desert bucks are pretty white in color. Maybe sun beating on them all the time, not much shade out there.  Wild guess. Anyway, post it up for us. SOunds like a keeper.

[BLUEBULLS]

the bucks I've been watching are really messing with me. My wife found the first freshy on Jan 3rd, i found one on the 10th and 4 more since. the buck that dropped my best fresh one this year is still packing the other side. I like them all to drop at the same time like they did last year, it keeps the hiking down. we've seen quite a few muleys and whitetails still packing. I'd say the south east part of the state, 90% of whitetails have dropped and 10% to 20% of muleys.

[Pathfinder101]

 (Quote) What causes these antlers to turn so white so fast? Do you think it is a deficiency of something?

Like a couple of people have said, lots of desert bucks have white or very light colored antlers.  I am no expert, but the way I understand it the color of a deer's antlers comes from 2 main sources; blood and sap.  When a buck sheds, he rubs the drying, cracking velvet off on whatever he can find.  If he is a rubbing on a conifer, which starts bleeding sap almost immediatley after you scratch the bark, he will generally have dark, chocolate-colored antlers.  If he is a wheat field/CRP buck, lots of times he just winds up rubbing on dry brush, eliminating sap from the coloring process.  If he rubs enough, he will clean off the blood, and when the antler dries, it will look very light colored.
Of course I am not a biologist, so this is all based upon "what I have been told" by people who (I assume) know what they are talking about.  Here is a pic of a wheat field buck I shot a few years ago.  Antlers were so light colored that with the sun glinting off them, he looked waaaaaaaaayyy bigger than he really was.  LOTS of ground shrinkage...   
 
   
 

[Pathfinder101]

oops.  hit the wrong button, forgot to attach the pic...