Hard antler PA buck on Aug 12th

[OspreyZB]

I usually see 1 or 2 hard antlered by the last week of August. Earliest I've seen was August 8th. Was an old 6 point that had a broken front left leg since the first time I saw him in 2018, probably from getting hit by a car. He shed his antlers by mid January every year which is early for around here. I ended up putting him out of his misery in January 2021 after a couple guys doing a 2-man drive with crossbows emptied their quivers on him, hitting everywhere but the vitals. By then, his bad leg was just skin and bone. His antlers popped off while we were dragging him out. His hooves were cracked and missing chunks, suggesting that he survived EHD the previous summer too.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

Here ya go.
Not a shooter IMO, and maybe not even legal here with APR. We are in a '4 point on a side' zone (or 3 "up"points). This buck does have a bit of a G3 on the right side but I'm not sure that it's an inch long.



You can see a tiny bit of velvet on the tip of the right beam. It kinda makes it hard to see the G3 or tell if it's long enough to be considered a legal point. Doesn't matter either way to me because I would not shoot this deer.

 

[Hunter260]

i got this buck on camera the 11th, I’m pretty sure he’s got hard horns although it’s hard to tell because of the poor quality

 

[ketch22]

8/10 still in velvet

 

[mattpsu1]

Saw this fellow out the window at work today. Right behind the hospital. Had a buddy with him that was a pretty decent 8 also

 

[MA_PAdeerslayer]

Doesn’t surprise me to be hard…only saying that because where we hunt in PA they always seem to already be dropping come second week of rifle season. Shot a good buck a few years ago and a huge doe shortly there after….well the huge doe was another buck. Found his sheds (guessing it was him) about 1/2 mile away on one of the first roads in the property

 

[GreginPA]

Doesn’t surprise me to be hard…only saying that because where we hunt in PA they always seem to already be dropping come second week of rifle season.

Well this is a PA buck from this year with its antlers in mid March.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

Resurrecting this thread...
Had a hard antlered spike walk thru my yard this morning (Aug 19th). Not quite as early as last year's early sighting but it is a bit on the early side for around here, maybe by 10 days to 2 weeks.

 

[Jammintree]

Around my parts a lot of bucks dropped
Their antlers extremely early in the winter, much earlier than is normal. It’s possible that bucks who shed early would then begin forming new antlers earlier than usual, shedding velvet earlier than usual etc.

 

[BuckYeah]

Around my parts a lot of bucks dropped
Their antlers extremely early in the winter, much earlier than is normal. It’s possible that bucks who shed early would then begin forming new antlers earlier than usual, shedding velvet earlier than usual etc.

ive heard people say they have seen deer who never shed their antlers that year as well...who knows.
this is from jersey.

 

[phatkaw]

I saw an 8pt tonight with freshly cleaned horns.
Still pretty red, must have rubbed his velvet off last night or today?