Wildlife Wednesday - Mule Deer Bucks

by Andy Ames

It is that time of year again. Mule deer bucks are beginning to shed their antlers. This is caused by a drop in testosterone levels after the rut, as well as diminished activity of the pituitary gland due to decreased daylight hours. Antlers have served their purpose - helping stay cool in the summer, establish hierarchy prior to and during the mating season, and showing to does who is the fittest buck around.

Not all bucks drop their antlers at the same time. In general, older bucks and those who did the most breeding will drop theirs first. (Bucks who have been kept in captivity and prevented from breeding may keep their antlers for a month or two longer than their wild counterparts). Younger bucks will lose their antlers as well in the coming weeks. This puts everyone on equal footing. This is not the time to compete. Winter is the time of survival.

Antlers from the older, most sexually active bucks are the first to fall off. Both antlers may drop at the same time or days or even weeks apart. Younger bucks, like the one on the left, are out competed for breeding and may not loose their antlers for another month or longer.

It looks painful, but it is not. It is said loosing antlers is like leaves falling from a tree or a scab coming off. The pedicel, the part of skull where the antler grows, may look a little bloody for a day or two, but a layer of skin will soon grow to cover it. New antlers will not start growing until vegetation greens up in the spring. (Photo 2/1/23)

Once bucks loose their antlers it can be hard to tell males from females. Here two bucks lay side by side. (Photo 2/1/23)