Clean Buck

He was a big boy Willie,a nice one for here,i only now of one thats bigger but i haven't seen him for three weeks now expect he may have shed by now also.
Neil
 
thats quite strange, you would expect it would take longer for them to be clean because of the hard winter we've had. But it really depends on where you are. Here in bonnie Scotland I reckon it won't be till mid/late-April i'll seeing most bucks clean, maybe the odd one before that.

Brent
 
We've been exceptionally lucky here i guess,no snow to speak of only one day when it settled and that was only a dusting,the does are now carrying well developed young to the point that i shalln't take any more now, just picking off a few kids for the minute.Saw a pair of younger bucks last week and they were half way shed.
Neil.
 
Brent, yes its strange I have a mate in Fife and he always sees bucks clean earlier than I do, like you I don't expect to see anything clean before mid April. now as to why they should clean earlier on the east coast I have no idea, as they have much colder weather than we get further west, I all-so stalk on an island that sits in the gulf stream very seldom gets frost and they don't clean any earlier.
 
I wonder if genetic diversity plays a part in it as populations become established and isolated,its strange how roe from different areas show such a great range of varying antler shape,just a thought.
Neil
 
On friday morning I saw a Buck that was nearly clean East of Dundee. It was the only one of about 8 seen. Assuming that they will be invisible from 1 April onwards!!
 
Have been watching one of the few bucks on my ground, Sussex ,and he is still in heavy velvet, mind you he is a very nice animal, provided he stays on my ground he will be safe.I hope.
 
Still in velvet in lancs with no signs of them starting to clean,
just a tad early but the does are spreadin,chasing the yearlings and splitting from there groups.
 
saw three clean near dumfries this weekend but saw a buck in northants today and still in velvet.
 
i saw 1 cean buck starting to colour up a week past sunday, i've seen a few since in full velvet, north east fife.
 
I may be wrong but I swear someone once told me it had something to do with daylight hours becoming longer that triggered a change in hormones and therefore started them shedding... Again correct me but isn't the change in daylight hours a faster change in Scotland than that down south may be the reason why the bucks shed up North earlier... There must be some science on this somewhere very interesting me thinks...

Alex
 
Neilaj can't get much further south than me and there seems to be an east\west divide on a simular latitude in Scotland so that theory doesn't appear feesable,guess no one will ever know why but my money is on genetics not that i know diddly s#*t.
Neil
 
I believe Alex is correct as testosterone in the male animal is regulated by the amount of daylight and this also drives the antler thing that deer have going on. Now this doesn't explain the east/west split we are seeing nor several other things either but it is certainly the fundamental mechanism by which these things, and lots of other things, happen. I'm always amused when the green vermin attribute some trait governed by daylight length to "man made global warming."

It would be interesting to know what drives the east/west split. Do the deer have different genetic backgrounds or is it even more complex than that? Certainly a good thesis for someone.
 
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