Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting

Glassed a monster buck from the road tonight still had both sides...Shouldn't they be off? Is it true if winter isn't very harsh they hold them longer? Thought I heard that somewhere. I was cruising by a spot that routinely has a lot of deer and there were several out there...Saw a lot of white on the one against the dark trees. 1/4 mile later it hit me that the white must be antlers so I turned around went back and watched, sure enough he was a big boy with both sides still.

Indirectly it can be true. A sharp drop in testosterone causes the lining that holds the antler on to disintegrate. The drop in testosterone could be from post rut, age, cold temps, lack of food, etc... even on harsh years it's not uncommon to see bucks carrying in March. I've seen it as late as May but that's rare.

A week ago I jumped a passel of them up walking to a WDB, 15-16 went scampering off, 75yds from me, not a antler to be seen. No farm fields around there any more (park and residential/commercial area) so maybe less food for them to eat and more stressed compared to farm country deer.