Shred-thumb- I think your right on with the warm/ mild winter. I was shooting crows over the weekend with my 84 year old Grandfather, and through chatting he said this is only the second winter he recalls in his life that the mild winters just fed thru till spring.
It has been my experience that the stress of the rut and onset of a cold winter, coupled with depleting food sources cause the horns to cast off early. What a weird year, im still watching 6 bucks every evening in a park walking around with racks ontop... hope they toss off soon or we are all gonna be fighting the greenup to spot them...