Do elk bleed BEFORE they shed?

[Western Hunter270]

I had a buddy tell me that he found a bull track that had blood everywhere that was clearly coming from his head, and instead of backtracking it to find it's sheds like you would think, he just followed it and low and behold it led him right to a fresh set of sheds laying in it's tracks. I've never heard of this before so my question is, do elk start to bleed before they shed, not just after?

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I don't know the answer to your question but here is a shed I found while Turkey hunting a few years ago that still had blood dripping from it..

 

[Western Hunter270]

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[PathFinder]

Yeah they do. Shedding antlers involves rapid degeneration of the pedicle tissue, they'll bleed a little bit before and after. Really fresh browns have blood on the bases.

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[Elkhntr82]

I don't know the answer to your question but here is a shed I found while Turkey hunting a few years ago that still had blood dripping from it.View attachment 393938.

That’s cool