This past few seasons has raised a few questions about antler growth. I have read some studies, have studied and continue to be a student. There is one particular deer that has brought this question to mind. He is now at least 4.5 and has carried the same antlers year after year. He almost died last year but someone took the hair off of his neck. He was and has been a regular for 5 years. Nobody in our camp has laid eyes on this buck except for trail cam pictures. He shows up every year, and every year he looks exactly as he did the year before.
With all of the known factors that contribute to antler growth taken into consideration i am wandering what and why he remains constant. Never increasing in mass or tine length, and always missing a browtine.
This year has really got me thinking from a management standpoint. So far we have 3 bucks, all sporting 5 scoreable tines, and all missing the same browtine. I am wandering if a downward trend is occurring in the overall genetics of the deer on our ridge? And it is not a small area (total of just under 1000 acres). Last gun season I killed a deer on opening day that we nicknamed Butter Bean, unintentionally killed him in the sense that he showed up at first light and the spikes were not noticed. Now, when I get down to him and age him, I aged him at 3.5 years! This year, guess what we have?? 2 that are almost exact matches to Bean....
So what's next, I want to watch and see what happens with the 3 5pts. Just to see if the follow the same growth as the 7 pt. What thoughts do you guys have on this?
With all of the known factors that contribute to antler growth taken into consideration i am wandering what and why he remains constant. Never increasing in mass or tine length, and always missing a browtine.
This year has really got me thinking from a management standpoint. So far we have 3 bucks, all sporting 5 scoreable tines, and all missing the same browtine. I am wandering if a downward trend is occurring in the overall genetics of the deer on our ridge? And it is not a small area (total of just under 1000 acres). Last gun season I killed a deer on opening day that we nicknamed Butter Bean, unintentionally killed him in the sense that he showed up at first light and the spikes were not noticed. Now, when I get down to him and age him, I aged him at 3.5 years! This year, guess what we have?? 2 that are almost exact matches to Bean....
So what's next, I want to watch and see what happens with the 3 5pts. Just to see if the follow the same growth as the 7 pt. What thoughts do you guys have on this?