Antler Growth Rate

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JMAR85
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Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby JMAR85 » Tue Jun 26, 2018 6:06 am

I enjoy putting a few cameras out early just to watch antlers develop. Yesterday I pulled two cameras that i had set the last week of May and was going through pictures. There's a hand full of good bucks in the area that I was looking for and was curious because it seemed that some of them weren't "as far along" as I had expected. Now I have no way of proving this and pictures can be deceiving due to angles/lighting etc. It could also be my imagination. But, my question is, are there years where antler growth starts out slower than normal?


tim
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby tim » Tue Jun 26, 2018 7:48 am

Yes. Mine seem a bit behind. But all bucks grow em and lose embat different rates.one year I had a buck way behind everything late into July. By the end of August he was one of the biggest bucks around but was really young. The next 2 years his growth sped up a little bit was a late grower . He turned into a 190” buck
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llcooljames
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby llcooljames » Tue Jun 26, 2018 8:31 am

The deer we have on camera seem to be behind this point last year.
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Dmking33
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby Dmking33 » Tue Jun 26, 2018 9:08 am

Absolutely! I know for the antler growth the trigger is photoperiodism or changes in amount of daylight. That increasing day length will prompt the pituitary gland to produce growth hormones and then that sets of an insulin type growth factor that stimulates antler growth. But I think a lot goes into the role for those later years. I wonder if lack of minerals, weather, etc can have a key role in this topic :think:
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Wetfoot
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby Wetfoot » Tue Jun 26, 2018 9:20 am

Severe winter's will also affect antler growth. A buck that barely survives a tough winter will put initial energy back towards recovery. That limits the amount of time to grow a quality rack. Very common in big woods northern locations and northern mountains where nutrition is margional.
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby Jdw » Tue Jun 26, 2018 9:54 am

Wetfoot wrote:Severe winter's will also affect antler growth. A buck that barely survives a tough winter will put initial energy back towards recovery. That limits the amount of time to grow a quality rack. Very common in big woods northern locations and northern mountains where nutrition is margional.



We had spring about 3 weeks later than usual and it seems most of the bucks are behind where they normally are at this point in the summer.
It will be interesting to see how they develop from here until they finish growing.
JMAR85
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby JMAR85 » Tue Jun 26, 2018 11:14 am

Jdw wrote:
Wetfoot wrote:Severe winter's will also affect antler growth. A buck that barely survives a tough winter will put initial energy back towards recovery. That limits the amount of time to grow a quality rack. Very common in big woods northern locations and northern mountains where nutrition is margional.



We had spring about 3 weeks later than usual and it seems most of the bucks are behind where they normally are at this point in the summer.
It will be interesting to see how they develop from here until they finish growing.



We had a fairly cool spring as well. It will be interesting to see how that affects them.
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Boogieman1
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Tue Jun 26, 2018 12:01 pm

Summer's of drought also effect antler development. In my area there's also a wide range of shed dates so naturally some are farther along then others.
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WV Bowhunter
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby WV Bowhunter » Tue Jun 26, 2018 12:42 pm

I’ve gotten pics of a buck in late June that was looking really good and got excited to see what else he was going to put on in a month and a half and he was done growing for the most part. I’ve also had bucks that didn’t look that great at the same time and ended up putting a bunch of bone on and being a good one.
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Ghost Hunter
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Tue Jun 26, 2018 11:38 pm

Around here it varies. I had a few on camera that had dropped in early January this year. Then some hold till late February. By late June and mid July we know what we are going to have around here.
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Lu Rome
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby Lu Rome » Wed Jun 27, 2018 2:47 am

Yup, several things can cause all aspects of it to vary, by individual and year. As long as our winter lasted this year, I wouldn't be surprised if they're a bit slow. They needed their resources longer, the antlers had to wait.

Few years back I saw a bachelor group of bull elk in SD in May that had one 6x still carrying standing next to a bull that was working on splitting off his 4ths.
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J Gilbert
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby J Gilbert » Wed Jun 27, 2018 2:55 am

I haven't pulled any of my own cameras yet but my buddies have been sending me pictures from their leases and it seems like Georgia is pretty much right on track so far. Hopefully I'll see the same when I pull my own cards in a few weeks
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Natenlsn2
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby Natenlsn2 » Thu Jun 28, 2018 3:56 pm

In my experience, each area and buck is different. I had 2 big bucks that were bachelor group on camera 2 summers ago. The one buck put on growth way quicker than the other one and they shed velvet at different times too. They both ended up around that 145-150 inch range but at the beginning the one was way ahead.
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Twenty Up
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Re: Antler Growth Rate

Unread postby Twenty Up » Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:53 pm

Suburban GA buck, time & dates accurate. I believe this to be the same deer.. but I could be wrong

Image

Image
Image


May have to zoom in for the second pic. They’ve been on a healthy mineral & protein feed diet ;)
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