Muleys still with antlers on

[WonkyWapiti]

Tonight I saw a bachelor group of 6 muleys in the Yakima River Canyon.  Two had no antlers, the other four still had their antlers.  These all were two by two's.  For those that live out that way is this typical for the smaller bucks to still have their antlers at this time of year?  I thought most dropped their antlers by January.  They were pretty cool.

[agchawk]

Cool!

Yea, it's pretty typical for the smaller bucks to carry thier headgear for a bit longer (not just in the Yakima area). The antler cycles (growing, velvet shedding, dropping antlers, etc) are caused by fluctuating testosterone levels...the little guys just don't have the strong "kickers" that trigger it like the more mature bucks do. Of course, just like humans, this isn't the case with every smaller buck but it's pretty typical.

The same thing goes for bucks that are past thier prime in a lot of cases and those levels begin to drop again.

(If I am off-base on this I am sure someone will chime in. It's been a while since I studied that chapter...LOL)

[bow4elk]

Cool!

Yea, it's pretty typical for the smaller bucks to carry thier headgear for a bit longer (not just in the Yakima area). The antler cycles (growing, velvet shedding, dropping antlers, etc) are caused by fluctuating testosterone levels...the little guys just don't have the strong "kickers" that trigger it like the more mature bucks do. Of course, just like humans, this isn't the case with every smaller buck but it's pretty typical.

The same thing goes for bucks that are past thier prime in a lot of cases and those levels begin to drop again.

(If I am off-base on this I am sure someone will chime in. It's been a while since I studied that chapter...LOL)

Yep, you're on the right track agchawk...the hormone release is triggered by the photoperiod (length of daylight, specifcially the amount of light that enters the retina).  I saw a forky whitetail on Saturday running full tilt uphill with both antlers firmly attached.  Each individual animal's health and stress also plays into when they will drop.  With the mild winter we've had I'm not surprised to see so many late droppers.  Elk seems to be on track but then again last April 17th I saw a pile of Roosevelts still packing when they are normally dropped by 4/1 where I shed hunt.  It all varies...

[agchawk]

"photoperiod"...Dang, I couldn't remember the term! Not sure if it's old age or the fact that I should have been in bed about three hours ago! I had just simply skipped over the health/stress point too. Very good point and very valid.

Thanks bow4elk for throwing that out there.

[hirshey]

Lots of bucks still in my area with headgear... I've been checking in on a nice wide and tall 3x running with a spike and small forky. Spike and forky only have right side still attached..  but the 3 point is still fully decorated. Hopefully they drop this week before the weekend traffic comes to look for sheds.

[Pathfinder101]

Just talked to a coworker that said he saw a 4x4 muley packin' out by the airfield at Fairchild AFB yesterday.