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March Rains = Awesome Antlers #5643128 03/09/15 07:38 PM
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Antler Addicts Offline OP
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Anyone else excited about this march rain? Only every couple of years do we get a March rain where we hunt in South Texas. Its the magic month to have a strong green up for us and great antlers in fall! Just hope we do not get a late freeze.


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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5643136 03/09/15 07:42 PM
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stxranchman Offline
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It takes winter rains for post rut buck to have antler growth hit its peak aslo. We have had both now with this March rain and so far we are set up for a good antler year. It will just take our average rains in April thru August for it to be a banner.


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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5643172 03/09/15 07:59 PM
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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5643308 03/09/15 08:56 PM
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We always have the Winter/March rains... it's the May-July that seem to be the kicker.

Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5643317 03/09/15 09:01 PM
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The north Texas snow was a big deal. It's really slow soaks the ground. Should be awesome winter wheat crop up here


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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5643422 03/09/15 09:39 PM
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I just hope it's bad for the acorn crop...damn hell food....

Last edited by Earl; 03/09/15 09:40 PM.

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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Earl] #5643487 03/09/15 10:04 PM
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don k Offline
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Originally Posted By: Earl
I just hope it's bad for the acorn crop...damn hell food....
Acorns are not your problem if you have deer. If you don't, then you can blame the lack of deer sightings on acorns.

Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: don k] #5643893 03/10/15 01:26 AM
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Originally Posted By: don k
Originally Posted By: Earl
I just hope it's bad for the acorn crop...damn hell food....
Acorns are not your problem if you have deer. If you don't, then you can blame the lack of deer sightings on acorns.



If there is a good acorn crop, hunt the acorns. Now is a good time to fertilize some oaks where you want the deer to be.


lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true
Mainstream news might be fun to watch
Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5643932 03/10/15 01:43 AM
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rifleman Offline
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Can't get to our oaks

Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5643951 03/10/15 01:56 AM
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Im excited about the rains we've seen in Shackelford County, its been 2010 since we've seen anything resembling this. I always hope for rains just for the health of the herd and the ecosystem in general out there. That said, I have noticed in the 15 years I've hunted south of Albany that wet conditions don't necessarily mean larger antlers for us. I assume its because the protein consumption literally gets cut in half and maybe more in wet years. I thought I was imagining this until I read the same thing on another board from some very reputable posters. But I will gladly give up inches of horn for good range conditions!

Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: mr. buck] #5644049 03/10/15 02:46 AM
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2012hvt Offline
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Originally Posted By: mr. buck
Im excited about the rains we've seen in Shackelford County, its been 2010 since we've seen anything resembling this. I always hope for rains just for the health of the herd and the ecosystem in general out there. That said, I have noticed in the 15 years I've hunted south of Albany that wet conditions don't necessarily mean larger antlers for us. I assume its because the protein consumption literally gets cut in half and maybe more in wet years. I thought I was imagining this until I read the same thing on another board from some very reputable posters. But I will gladly give up inches of horn for good range conditions!


Anyone want to elaborate on this? I'd like to hear more.

Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5644100 03/10/15 03:11 AM
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September Yet? I keep checking, but no such luck


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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: 2012hvt] #5644123 03/10/15 03:17 AM
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Originally Posted By: 2012hvt
Originally Posted By: mr. buck
Im excited about the rains we've seen in Shackelford County, its been 2010 since we've seen anything resembling this. I always hope for rains just for the health of the herd and the ecosystem in general out there. That said, I have noticed in the 15 years I've hunted south of Albany that wet conditions don't necessarily mean larger antlers for us. I assume its because the protein consumption literally gets cut in half and maybe more in wet years. I thought I was imagining this until I read the same thing on another board from some very reputable posters. But I will gladly give up inches of horn for good range conditions!


Anyone want to elaborate on this? I'd like to hear more.

IME it was from poor habitat. I managed a ranch in the Hill Country that had been root plowed and then grazed very hard for 30+ years till it changed hands with a new owner. We started to take deer numbers off and feeding free choice 20% protein year round in 1990. We had some decent browse in areas and some forb growth in some areas. The deer got on feed quickly the first year. There was a few bucks in the 3-4 yr old age class but I did not see one 10 point the first year in 1989. I did see 4-10 points the first year on feed. The deer continued to get better with age and the increased nutrition. The top end deer increased every year. 1992 was a very wet year (way above average) then after that the rainfall steadily decreased and was below average every year from 1993 until 1997. I always believed that the deer were better in years when it was below average due to age and protein. The quality of browse was not the greatest even still and the forb production was mainly in spring only. So by late May till fall the deer had nothing of high quality to eat other than the protein. They had low end browse mostly that was very low in protein. Late Summer and Fall brought on mast crops which were low in protein but high in amounts of it with persimmon and oak. The drought period from Oct 1995 till Aug 1996 only had 6" of rain but that year the ranch produced bucks up into the 180 class with native genetics to that county. The over all herd had improved in body size also. Doe weights were up 40% from when we started. I think that the deer had enough browse, forbes and mast crops to live on but not do them enough nutritional wise to see the true genetic potential without the protein supplement. The average of most of the browse plants were well below 16% protein content. The forb production was not much better and it was only for a short window during the spring.


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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5644129 03/10/15 03:20 AM
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Clay Young told me a few years ago That in Mexico during wet years the antler growth wasn't as good because the deer avoided the protein, not totally but enough to tell the difference. rifle

Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5644141 03/10/15 03:25 AM
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I heard years ago that with good rains in late winter helped but also that lots of sun shine during May helped antler growth. rifle

Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: bp3] #5644164 03/10/15 03:36 AM
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Originally Posted By: bp3
I heard years ago that with good rains in late winter helped but also that lots of sun shine during May helped antler growth. rifle

It used to be that May was the highest rainfall month in South Texas. That brought on huge Mesquite Bean crops and kept forb growth up, which both were a boost to deer if they had a good spring. Lot of areas in South Texas can still see very good and even new forb growth at that time of the year also.


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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5644181 03/10/15 03:47 AM
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I do not know about the rest of y'all but any moisture during a drought is good


lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true
Mainstream news might be fun to watch
Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: Antler Addicts] #5644263 03/10/15 04:20 AM
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No doubt. Everything around here is saturated. Should be a good wildflower season as well.


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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: stxranchman] #5644330 03/10/15 05:15 AM
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Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Originally Posted By: 2012hvt
Originally Posted By: mr. buck
Im excited about the rains we've seen in Shackelford County, its been 2010 since we've seen anything resembling this. I always hope for rains just for the health of the herd and the ecosystem in general out there. That said, I have noticed in the 15 years I've hunted south of Albany that wet conditions don't necessarily mean larger antlers for us. I assume its because the protein consumption literally gets cut in half and maybe more in wet years. I thought I was imagining this until I read the same thing on another board from some very reputable posters. But I will gladly give up inches of horn for good range conditions!


Anyone want to elaborate on this? I'd like to hear more.

IME it was from poor habitat. I managed a ranch in the Hill Country that had been root plowed and then grazed very hard for 30+ years till it changed hands with a new owner. We started to take deer numbers off and feeding free choice 20% protein year round in 1990. We had some decent browse in areas and some forb growth in some areas. The deer got on feed quickly the first year. There was a few bucks in the 3-4 yr old age class but I did not see one 10 point the first year in 1989. I did see 4-10 points the first year on feed. The deer continued to get better with age and the increased nutrition. The top end deer increased every year. 1992 was a very wet year (way above average) then after that the rainfall steadily decreased and was below average every year from 1993 until 1997. I always believed that the deer were better in years when it was below average due to age and protein. The quality of browse was not the greatest even still and the forb production was mainly in spring only. So by late May till fall the deer had nothing of high quality to eat other than the protein. They had low end browse mostly that was very low in protein. Late Summer and Fall brought on mast crops which were low in protein but high in amounts of it with persimmon and oak. The drought period from Oct 1995 till Aug 1996 only had 6" of rain but that year the ranch produced bucks up into the 180 class with native genetics to that county. The over all herd had improved in body size also. Doe weights were up 40% from when we started. I think that the deer had enough browse, forbes and mast crops to live on but not do them enough nutritional wise to see the true genetic potential without the protein supplement. The average of most of the browse plants were well below 16% protein content. The forb production was not much better and it was only for a short window during the spring.

I am the only one feeding protein for miles around (scurry county, all low fence). I would assume that a wet year will be overall better due to the lack of supplemental feeding in the area???

Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: 2012hvt] #5644586 03/10/15 01:54 PM
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Originally Posted By: 2012hvt
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Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Originally Posted By: 2012hvt
Originally Posted By: mr. buck
Im excited about the rains we've seen in Shackelford County, its been 2010 since we've seen anything resembling this. I always hope for rains just for the health of the herd and the ecosystem in general out there. That said, I have noticed in the 15 years I've hunted south of Albany that wet conditions don't necessarily mean larger antlers for us. I assume its because the protein consumption literally gets cut in half and maybe more in wet years. I thought I was imagining this until I read the same thing on another board from some very reputable posters. But I will gladly give up inches of horn for good range conditions!


Anyone want to elaborate on this? I'd like to hear more.

IME it was from poor habitat. I managed a ranch in the Hill Country that had been root plowed and then grazed very hard for 30+ years till it changed hands with a new owner. We started to take deer numbers off and feeding free choice 20% protein year round in 1990. We had some decent browse in areas and some forb growth in some areas. The deer got on feed quickly the first year. There was a few bucks in the 3-4 yr old age class but I did not see one 10 point the first year in 1989. I did see 4-10 points the first year on feed. The deer continued to get better with age and the increased nutrition. The top end deer increased every year. 1992 was a very wet year (way above average) then after that the rainfall steadily decreased and was below average every year from 1993 until 1997. I always believed that the deer were better in years when it was below average due to age and protein. The quality of browse was not the greatest even still and the forb production was mainly in spring only. So by late May till fall the deer had nothing of high quality to eat other than the protein. They had low end browse mostly that was very low in protein. Late Summer and Fall brought on mast crops which were low in protein but high in amounts of it with persimmon and oak. The drought period from Oct 1995 till Aug 1996 only had 6" of rain but that year the ranch produced bucks up into the 180 class with native genetics to that county. The over all herd had improved in body size also. Doe weights were up 40% from when we started. I think that the deer had enough browse, forbes and mast crops to live on but not do them enough nutritional wise to see the true genetic potential without the protein supplement. The average of most of the browse plants were well below 16% protein content. The forb production was not much better and it was only for a short window during the spring.

I am the only one feeding protein for miles around (scurry county, all low fence). I would assume that a wet year will be overall better due to the lack of supplemental feeding in the area???

Most areas are at CC with the habitat they have. So when you get the rains at the right time, then yes you will see a better year (if have a good mix of all age classes of bucks also). The key is rains at the right times. The deer eating protein you have been feeding should be ahead of the other deer as far body condition and take advantage of the higher protein growth after the rains. They will not have to re-coop body condition and can utilize the new growth browse/forbs into other areas such as antler growth or fawn development.


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Re: March Rains = Awesome Antlers [Re: stxranchman] #5644622 03/10/15 02:15 PM
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Over the years is sure seems that some of the best bucks are killed during drought years and not wet years. I have heard all kinds of theories on this - the eat the protein more during drought, they don't have to move around as much when range conditions are good, etc. But on our lease over the years some of the best deer have been taken when rainfall did not hit right or was nonexistent. Last year was very wet for us and we had a deer in the 200 plus score drop to a 197. Also had a 175 go to 201 during a very bad drought year back in 2008-2009. So I am not always sure what to wish for on rain


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