Antler Growth

[Ghost]

Add anything you want to this. I just thought it would be a good time to get a discussion going about antler development.

Antler growth is triggered by the ratio of daylight to darkness which is called "photoperiod".

April - Growth starts

June - Tines develop

August - Full size is reached

September - Antlers harden and velet is shed

October - Polishing from rubbing

Discuss the role of age, genetics, nutrition, injury during velvet stage, latitude or anything else.

Hopefully we will be seeing some great trail camera photos of antler development here as well.

 

[OneCam]

. . . November - we're holding them for the first time. (if we are lucky!)


Great topic! I know I'm getting antsy to start glassing.

I remember last year while glassing in July I spotted a nice 2 1/2 year old buck with what I first thought was a droptine. After further inspection it was a G-3 that had broken and was hanging by velvet. I often wonder how many antler injuries are obtained in velvet rather than fighting?

 

[EIGHTPOINT]

ONECAM, You can probably attribute any odd antlered deer you may come accross in season as a buck that had antler damage while he was in velvet. This is not to be confused with a non typical rack which has more to do with genetics than antler damange suffered while in velvet.

 

[Ghost]

Nutrition and Genetics.......

It is possible to "starve the antlers off" a buck that is genetically capable of producing good antlers, but not possible to "feed good antlers onto" a buck which is NOT genetically capable of producing good antlers.

Iowa genetics and farm county!

 

[Shredder]

Abnormal antler development in the form of odd mainbeams or directional abnormalities are usually a result of damage to the antler pedicle where the antler attaches to the skull either from fighting, hit by car, inaccurate shooter, infection and so on. In my opinion, these make up some of the neatest nontypicals out there. What is also strange is the role testosterone plays in the formation and finishes and shedding of antlers......

 

[OneCam]

Another key role in antler development is previous injuries. Often times a shoulder or leg wound will cause the deer's opposite side antler to be severely deformed.

 

[Shovelbuck]

Good disscussion. Here's one I was wondering about from last season. I have a pic of him from about 2 weeks earlier in velvet. He was in great shape then. This pic was taken on the 13th of Sep. and he was allready badly broken up. Car maybe? I never saw him again after this pic.

 

[Ghost]

Here is a great trail cam picture provided by Moosehunter of Antler Growth!

 

[Liv4Rut]

last year i became a big believer that if a deer has good genetics, then he will grow a good rack even if he is malnourished. last year i seen a very very wierd deer a guy shot during early muzzleloader, the deer weighed only 80 pounds yet it held a 150 class 8 pointer rack on it, it was mere skin and bones. when the biologist and dnr did a autopsy on the deer, thinking it had cwd which it didnt, it had a wierd gum disease, its whole mouth was pure black and no teeth, it was really gross, but just by seeing that buck, made me realize that if a buck has good genes he can still grow a rack even if he is malnourished, i know this is a wierd case, just think a buck with good genes and good nutrition, this topic just reminded me of that deer from some reason, wish i had a pick of it, it looked like a world record with that ittty bitty body, and it was a older buck the biologist said too, but good luck everyone and i have seen some nice bucks with good racks already!!!

 

[OneCam]

Are there any theories on the development of Droptines. This characteristic is one of the most sought after trophies of all hunters.

Very interesting subject - please share your knowledge.

 

[iowabuck]

Was that deer in the picture from this year? What time of year was that photo taken. Looks like a very nice deer. I have seen a few bucks with antler starting to form tines. Can't wait as we have a little bit more than 3 months until the season starts. Has anyone else been looking for bucks?

 

[moosehunter]

onecam. i tend to believe genetics plays the biggest role in antler growth. an example: In the area i'm hunting the have been many very good bucks taken that have tall racks and they are curved very tight. I've seen racks that were taken as far back as 84 and they are all similar. my bet is they are decendents of a very dominate long living buck in the 70's or early 80's that produced many offspring. I don't know why drop tines wouldn't be inherited if my theory is right. but i'm not a bioligist either...........................

 

[Ghost]

It is definitely interesting to look at a bunch of racks all taken off the same piece of property over the years. I have five or six bucks which all have a split G2 on the same side.

Does anyone consistently shoot bucks which have drop tines? I think in 25 years of deer hunting I have only seen one, maybe two deer with a drop tine in the area I hunt.

 

[Central Iowa]

I rememberd this quote from the PMA section and have wondered about it ever since. Quote from Fishbonker " Ogz knows his whitetails, we had a good discussion on why we are seeing more drop tine deer." If either of you guys would like to share I would love to read about it. Droptines have always been at the top of my list. The pict shows two sheds fom the same buck. The one with a little nub where the droptine is on the other is approx. 4 years before the shed with the doptine. Gotta love them. CI

 

[Fishbonker]

Uhhh, what I REMEBER of the conversation is shady, but I was concerned we were seeing more droptine deer than ever before because there was something wrong with the environment which caused drop tines. Sort of like the deal a few years ago with three legged frogs. But I think the general consensis is its all in the DNA, plus we are letting more deer reach an older age so they are able to spread their droptine genetics around as well as just letting them live longer to grow the tines. Then there was the question of recessive vs dominate trait, if its a recessive trait we should be seeing less state wide, not more. Unless all of the drop tines are from the same area then the recessive gene is (might be) more prevalent in that area. Of course there could be an argument made that the drop tine is caused by some sort of "node" that sprouts on the forming antler either from an intrinsic pathogen or external injury, but shed hunters have found racks with identical tines several seasons in a row.

Shoot, I gotta fly, I'll try to continue later. I hate when work gets in the way of talking deer.

The 'Bonker

 

[OneCam]

I finally got out and did a little glassing last night. I saw a number of nice deer - most of them I would guestimate were 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 year old bucks. In all I probably saw 15 bucks.

The 1 1/2 year old deer look to only have 3" - 5" of groth so far. The 2 and 3 year old bucks have started growing there beems forward (past the G3's) with nice length on their G1's and G2's. I did not notice any of the bucks with a G4's yet - I did only see one Mature buck though.

One interesting note, I had a 1 1/2 year old buck come by that had a 5 inches of groth on one side and the other side was growing abdormally down the young bucks face. After further inspection I notice a X scar (broadhead I assume) on the opposite side hip.

What is everyone else seeing for antler growth now?

 

[Ghost]

Last week I saw a total of 4 bucks. All were of the age class of 2 1/2 years. Two were alive and two were on the road shoulder as a result of poor judgement while crossing the road. The deer had 6 to 8 inches of antler growth with the main beams just starting to turn forward. Hope the rest of my sightings are of deer eating in the fields.

 

[Ogz]

Sorry about the delay. Started a new job last week and getting computer time has been tough. Most drops are genetic. Some can be caused by injury, like Muddy's muzzleloader kill. But I don't think that injuries tend to grow the nice clean drops that we all like so much. This trait can also seemingly dissapear from year to year. One shed found by a friend this year was off of a triple drop that had two drops that formed an X before one broke off. Talk about cool. What I do know for sure is that drop tine bucks are rare and hard to find. I have seen a few while hunting but even then it has only been one look and then gone. They are impressive...