A quirky start to bucks shedding antlers

Jeff Getz is more of a shed-antler observer than a shed hunter, but he made this observation after his First Day Hike in the northern suburbs. Well, after several days of early January hikes.

"Shed season has started and appears to be in full swing with my local whitetails," he emailed. "Probably two weeks earlier than usual. Interestingly, on the 1st, I didn't notice any bucks sans antlers. However, it looks like the majority dropped in the past few days. Today my favorite photo op buck was antler-less and I only found one guy that's holding on."

The photos show what he meant.

The bucks of white-tailed deer shed their antlers annually, generally in winter. The bell curve of shedding peaks in mid-February.

In Illinois, sheds may be collected on private land with permission. It’s prohibited at all forest preserves and park districts I know. In Illinois, shed hunting is prohibited at state parks, nature preserves or where specifically prohibited, but allowed on Fish and Wildlife Areas, Conservation Areas, and Boat Access Areas, if open to the public.

This is sort of a Shed of the Week. SOTW, the celebration of finding shed antlers and their stories (the stories matter) around Chicago outdoors, runs when apt in the paper Sun-Times, usually on Wednesdays.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), X (@BowmanOutside), Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or Bluesky (@BowmanOutside.bsky.social).