I have seen many bucks hold there antlers till the end of march, so , I have to think its possible he just held on really long and more likely did shed them soon after your pic of him
I hope the big 8 gets even bigger this yr for you
cool to be able to have traits that stand out and get to know a buck and see him develop
I haven't seen any bucks at all up my way yet this yr??
I think I have too many bears this yr, and the deer have been staying away from my yard, so far seen 11 different bears here, and there here almost daily some times 3-4 at a time
plus the one mother bear with her 3 cubs has been running up and down trees making a LOT of noise, SO< the doe's with fawns I know will avoid my yard for a while, as bears in PA eat a lot of fawns, being able to smell them before other predators(coyotes and such)
PA did a study a few yrs back and found MOST all fawns were eaten by bears than any other predator , by a huge margin.
here is the mother bear, and her cubs, I got them a kiddie pool too LOL, since there here so often, makes for a fun evening show on sunny days! LOL