August-September 2024 • Nebraskaland 45
22 and the latest date deer were seen
retaining velvet Sept. 25. By Sept. 1,
the beginning of Nebraska's archery
season, more than 12 percent of bucks
had already shed their velvet. By Sept.
15, 67 percent of bucks had shed their
velvet and by Sept. 20, 90 percent
had done so. On average, we observed
older deer completely shed velvet 13
percent, or three to four days, sooner
than younger bucks.
Even with our intensive eff orts, we
only observed a few individuals in the
process of velvet shedding, indicating
this process occurs during a short
time frame for individuals. Our study
represents a snapshot of bucks during
a single season.
Best Opportunities
Based on our fi ndings in Nebraska,
the best opportunity to harvest a
mature, velvet-antlered white-tailed
deer is during the fi rst seven days of
the archery season, with around 50
percent of males still retaining velvet.
By mid-September, just 20 percent of
the more sought-after mature bucks
still retained velvet.
From my experience, bucks tend
to be easier to pattern during early
September. So, if you want a chance
to harvest a velvet-antlered deer, you
had better grab your license and bow
or crossbow, play the wind, endure the
heat, ticks and mosquitoes, and give it
your best eff ort early in the season.
N
Brian Peterson is a biologist at the
University of Nebraska at Kearney
and coordinates the M.S. Biology
Online Program. His research focus
is white-tailed deer antler metrics.
For more information, please contact
petersonbc@unk.edu. He would like to
thank the many landowners for allowing
access to their properties, and Bodin
Wilson and Logan Dietrich for their
contributions to the research fi ndings.
Opposite: The best representation
of our research as it is the same
individual based on antler
confi guration and split ear within
the same location. It shows the deer
in full velvet in July and 100 percent
clean antler by Sept. 5, which aligns
with our fi ndings.
COURTESY BRIAN PETERSON
University of Nebraska at Kearney fi sheries graduate student Garrett Rowles harvested this mature
buck still in velvet on Sept. 2 a few years ago. COURTESY BRIAN PETERSON
