What Does this buck score? (He's Big)

[RMW]

Did you keep cameras rolling after season? Was he eating protein and looking healthy? Seems a little early to shed horns down south. If this is him it's a heartbreaker!

[Encinal]

It's March 25. Antlers are 1/3 to 1/2 shed.

[Slick8]

I just re-read and caught up with this thread is hadn't seen it since the velvet pictures. Please tell me that's not the subject deer.

What do you think happened?

[Big pig]

Lol I thought the same thing. Dude looks like a Brahman bull

I didn't even glance at the horns in that photo for a while.
I would have shot that old buck immediately.

Darn shame about losing that big deer. I bet it is Hard to take after 4 years of watching him.

[Rack Ranch]

Sorry to see, did you pull the jaw bone?

[TexasTK]

I have also found a few of my older mature bucks that die right after they shed. Wonder what the deal is as to why ? I was thinking maybe they have been injured, rundown and are just hanging on and when they shed the coyotes know the buck can't hurt them and they move in for the kill.
Hate that happened but as you have said before they have a short shelf life.

[Encinal]

I have also found a few of my older mature bucks that die right after they shed. Wonder what the deal is as to why ? I was thinking maybe they have been injured, rundown and are just hanging on and when they shed the coyotes know the buck can't hurt them and they move in for the kill.
Hate that happened but as you have said before they have a short shelf life.

Yep. This year has been especially tough. Lost this one... A 175+ 10 and found a 88" shed off a 5 year old that had the whole pedicle attached.

[lab man]

Sorry to see this. He was a great looking deer.

[Peyton]

Ooooof! [emoji856] That's rough! [emoji33]

But we both know that's part of rolling the dice.

[FCTrapper]

I have also found a few of my older mature bucks that die right after they shed. Wonder what the deal is as to why ? I was thinking maybe they have been injured, rundown and are just hanging on and when they shed the coyotes know the buck can't hurt them and they move in for the kill.

Hate that happened but as you have said before they have a short shelf life.

There could be a couple of reasons why your seeing some natural mortality this time Of year. One could be death by acidosis, which is caused by rapid change in diet. Due to the amount of rains and with the dying of winter Forbes and new warm season growth, even a change in the consumption amount of protein to native browse and vice versa can all lead to death. The "heating" up of the rumen in my opinion is one of the biggest hidden causes of natural mortality. Also When bucks shed it is the most stressful time of the year for them. During the antler shedding process bucks get a type of bacterial infection in between the antler burr and skull plate. That infection aids in the antlers breaking apart from the skull plate. If a buck is already run down, hurt, overly stressed etc it can occasionally lead to death. So many factors can lead to bucks dying and it definitely hurts no matter the diagnosis. With bucks this time of year and with the circumstances we have at present I would say these 2 scenarios would be top of the list.

Just remember as soon as a deer is born they are looking for a place to die. Lol

[TexasTK]

Good info. there FCT. Those are issues I would not have thought of. Appreciate your input. This is why I keep a close eye on this forum, never to old to learn something new. Since I got your attention what do you think is the reason bucks suddenly die while they are shedding their velvet or right after they shed ? I have seen this on numerous occasions.

[FCTrapper]

Good info. there FCT. Those are issues I would not have thought of. Appreciate your input. This is why I keep a close eye on this forum, never to old to learn something new. Since I got your attention what do you think is the reason bucks suddenly die while they are shedding their velvet or right after they shed ? I have seen this on numerous occasions.

Over the years we have had about a handful of bucks die during the September time period and it always was a head scratcher. I personally would lean towards acidosis on 2 for a fact. Both bucks were older mature (6-7 years old 170's plus) gentle and protein and corn hounds. So every year we fill corn feeders up sometime in September and let the protein feeders go empty at the same time. Everyone that fills corn feeders knows how much corn is on the ground for many days till the deer get recondidtioned to them. My thoughts are that both bucks (different years) moved off the protein and hammered the corn. They ate till there bellies were full and the rumen which has been used to protein has now got a belly full of corn which is hard/longer to digest and they die from acidosis. Its just my theory but both bucks were full of corn and they both had the same traits. We now fill corn slowly throughout the ranch and wait till October to let protein empty.

[TexasTK]

Over the years we have had about a handful of bucks die during the September time period and it always was a head scratcher. I personally would lean towards acidosis on 2 for a fact. Both bucks were older mature (6-7 years old 170's plus) gentle and protein and corn hounds. So every year we fill corn feeders up sometime in September and let the protein feeders go empty at the same time. Everyone that fills corn feeders knows how much corn is on the ground for many days till the deer get recondidtioned to them. My thoughts are that both bucks (different years) moved off the protein and hammered the corn. They ate till there bellies were full and the rumen which has been used to protein has now got a belly full of corn which is hard/longer to digest and they die from acidosis. Its just my theory but both bucks were full of corn and they both had the same traits. We now fill corn slowly throughout the ranch and wait till October to let protein empty.

Your theory is certainly plausible but in my case I kept protein going all year. The dead deer I found were in the 7 year old plus category. I only feed a small amount of corn and in one case the corn feeder ran the entire year so it was nothing new introduced into there diet. Unfortunately when I found the bucks the coyotes had already picked them clean so no post mortem investigation. I guess some things in the deer world will just remain a mystery.

[Mailman]

What a shame... When I saw this thread back up to the top last week, I was HOPING it was because you found a shed. This certainly wasn't the outcome we were hoping for.

Sorry Bud