Comments on: When Whitetail Bucks Lose Their Velvet

By: Buck Manager

Buck Manager — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 02:01:04 +0000

Tom, I don’t know if I can pin down an exact time on this one, but bucks usually start becoming aggressive towards one another not long after losing their velvet. In Texas, bucks shed velvet from late August to late September depending on the location and the year, and they are plenty aggressive within weeks if not days. Bachelor groups tend to break up pretty quickly once they can use their headgear to hurt one another.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:28:59 +0000

How soon after shedding their velvet does a buck become territorial and start chasing off smaller (less dominant) bucks?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:34:42 +0000

May have been an antlered doe.. They never shed the velvet either.

By: John Sipe

John Sipe — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:03:29 +0000

I have documented photo’s of a buck beginning his shed of velvet at 9:00 p.m. Just the tips showed blood on the trail camera, and by 12:30 a.m., 3 1/2 hours later, it was hanging down beside his face. The buck was reaching to eat it in the last pictures before he departed!

By: Buck Manager

Buck Manager — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:45:31 +0000

Amy and Steve-

The growth and shedding of a buck’s antlers is dependent upon hormone levels. As testosterone levels increase, bucks will rub off their velvet. When testosterone levels decrease, usually in late winter, their antlers fall off.

The bucks you refer to have antlers covered in velvet so their testosterone levels are low and have remained low. These deer are stag bucks (without functioning testes). Though some stag bucks become so after injuring the “family jewels” most stags are born without them. These bucks do not breed or go into the rut and are social outcasts. Their antlers never shed their velvet, and the antlers themselves never are shed.