Anybody notice this as well for 2013?

[bb70]

Not sure if it is just bad luck or if we are still being affected by the drought, but noticing that lots of my older age class bucks and bucks in general are a bit smaller this year. Antler growth that is. Over all velvet growth was later than normal and kind of dissapointed in the jumps some 3 yr olds went to 4 yr olds and 4 yr olds to 5 yr olds as well. Any body else seeing the same?

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[BassBoysLLP]

Yep. A lot of us are seeing the same thing.

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[Black Squirrel]

What location are you talking about?

[Bucky]

That is what I'm seeing in most of my spots... the 2yr olds to 3yr olds made some good gains, but the 4s and 5s look about the same or worse!

[Singing Bridge]

We had some spots in lower Michigan that were very dry this spring, but here in MidMichigan we had a band that got quite a bit of rainfall. The bucks look at least to be average here, maybe a little above even. I just watched a two year old for about twenty minutes and I thought he looked a little better than average.

[Mike]

Yes agreed, we have a 4 or 5 year old 9pt who looks to be about the same (or smaller) than last year, which was disappointing. He has been around for 3 years so I had higher hopes for him this year.

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[Dewey]

Been seeing plenty of good bucks shining and on average they don't seem much smaller than other years at this point. We have had a really good growing season in this area with plenty of rain this spring/summer.

I can't compare individual bucks though since I don't have any history with any of them like many of you do. Just basing this on what I see from year to year for quality and rack size.

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[MOBIGBUCKS]

Kinda has me concerned as well. I usually leave my cams for 6 weeks, so I have no intel yet.

Oh well, if it's mature its getting an arrow.

[BassBoysLLP]

That is what I'm seeing in most of my spots... the 2yr olds to 3yr olds made some good gains, but the 4s and 5s look about the same or worse!

This is EXACTLY what I'm seeing in Central and SW Wisconsin.

[Maple_Ridge]

We had some spots in lower Michigan that were very dry this spring, but here in MidMichigan we had a band that got quite a bit of rainfall. The bucks look at least to be average here, maybe a little above even. I just watched a two year old for about twenty minutes and I thought he looked a little better than average.

I can say we are seeing the same in the thumb area SB.

Seen 3 different 2 YOs. Last night.

Real nice rack development for 2 YOs.....seems like they are above average for my area.

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[headgear]

I have a couple of bucks that look the same and maybe a hair smaller than last year. I think they were 3 year olds last year so I was certainly hoping for some improvement but they will still get an arrow.

[bblefty]

From trail cams, it seems that we don't have the same problem on the east coast (SC) We had so much rain and an incredibly warm winter. The only big stressor is all the ticks that never died and the massive mosquitos.

[Uncle Lou]

We are very lush here in SE Michigan. These deer are well fed around here. Seen three nice racks last week driving back from town, too bad it was on a spot I used to be able to hunt.

Last year we were very dry, but there were some slammers shot around here, and the scrub racks were big bodied. My 12 yr. old neighbor kyle shot a 120 button.

[tim]

the verdict isnt out for me yet, i checked cams on monday8/12 and these bucks are still growing im seeing tines and beams with dark bulbs on the ends still so they arent done. i wont know till there all donw but usually by now everything is completely done. i thought they would loose growth also being so late but they are still growing so im thinking they might be shedding a couple weeks late.

[phade]

Same results from my hunting areas in wNY. Deer seem much further behind than last year. The 3.5s that I know of for a fact are 3.5 are not much different from their 2.5 y/o growth and some of the 2.5s are equal in size.