Antlers grow rapidly from their pedicle (base) while in velvet during the spring and summer, as fast as 3/4 inch/week for yearlings and 1 1/2 inches per week for adults during peak growth (Jacobson and Griffin 1983). Increasing levels of testosterone cause their velvet to peel off. But they found as they approached their dead deer the antlers were still fully cloaked in velvet, the delicate hairy membranes that help antlers grow. Reproductively, they are stuck in neutral. One last thing you might not know: Bucks have been known to turn their heads and peel or even eat the dry velvet off their new racks. Growth Cycle. Whitetails shed their antlers like many species in the deer family. I am excited that I finally got my cameras out so it is going to be interesting. Antlers are cool, but white-tailed deer are amazing in their … Later, the deer will shed the velvet by rubbing its antlers against trees and shrubs. That’s typically when bucks lose their antler velvet, a soft, blood-rich tissue that covers growing antlers from late spring through summer. More bucks will lose their velvet. Growth peaks in late August throughout most of the whitetail range. Now the tree rubbing and antler-polishing begin. Hang with me the upcoming weeks, they will bring big changes. when I say velvet is lost fast, I mean fast. Then — in late winter after the rut is over — bucks shed their antlers. It can take as little as 24-48 hours for the antlers to actually fall off, but the shedding process takes between two to three weeks and then new antlers will regenerate throughout the summer.. Their necks don’t swell and they don’t breed. Most bucks shed their velvet between mid-August and mid-September. Throughout this growing period, the buck’s rack is fairly soft and flexible, but it hardens to bone by late summer as the bucks’ testosterone levels start climbing. It’s one of the coolest times in the deer woods. It seems around here that they shed velvet around September 3 or 4 (with some starting a week earlier). In fact, I’ve seen an older age class buck with no sign of shedding velvet that was sporting completely clean antlers within 22 hours! A stag doesn’t shed his antlers; they remain in velvet year-round. CONTINUED… GO TO Deer Scouting 2016. It did seem that the bucks shed velvet a bit sooner this year than most. The annual casting and growth of new antlers is an important part of the whitetail's mystique. More September photos and comments coming. Velvet can be completely shed from a whitetail buck’s antlers within a day or two. Mule deer, whitetail deer and other ungulates shed their antlers once a year. Velvet shedding typically takes only a couple of hours, though it is not uncommon to see a deer walking around for day or two with bloody velvet tatters. They lack the chemical stimulation to express dominance or individualism. 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