So what makes em fall off?

[justwannano]

Guess I never thought about it before. Maybe I thought it was freezing weather but it don't freeze everywhere.
We should be having way below freezing temps for weeks at a time but not this year.
Will they be falling off later than usual?

[kootenaykiller]

good question. i have been shed hunting for 15 years and theres many different theories.#1 weather,#2 health #3 daylight hours
#4 new growth. I think it has alot to do with health and weather.the easier for an animal to access food in the winter means he will start growing new ones ,wich pushes the old ones off.ive always found that if an animal is sick looking or really thin or lots of snow and not much food,they will shed.giving them a better chance of survival.but on the flip side if we have a mild winter and they have lots of feed ,they should drop because the new ones are growing. thats just my thoughts whats every one else think?

[gd357]

As it has been explained to me, there is a vein that feeds the antler base, even after it hardens. At a certain point during the year (different for each animal by small margins) if the temperature dops below freezing the vein dies off, and the antler comes loose from the base. In warmer climates, the new growth chokes off the vein, causing the antler to drop. I've seen deer missing antlers in late December, and I've seen deer that still had both until early March. I'm sure that health, and diet have something to do with it as well, but thats more biology than I care to look into.

gd