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Hows that antler coming along? #8274071 05/23/21 03:10 PM
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Been getting some decent pucs of antler growth already, seems there are always some over acheivers and some bucks that are a little slower.

Any pics of some to keep an eye on as the summer progresses?

Last edited by Texas buckeye; 05/23/21 03:18 PM.
Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8274073 05/23/21 03:14 PM
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Not seeing anything to get excited about just youngsters showing up on my cameras now. Good start on them though.


lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true
Mainstream news might be fun to watch
Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8274081 05/23/21 03:27 PM
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It is the same every year with antler growth. You have one group that is about 2 to 3 weeks of growth ahead of the second group. I have seen this every since I started paying attention to it about 30 yrs ago now. Not something new just people notice it more nowadays with trail cameras. Those bucks that shed early, start earlier and are farther ahead. Those that shed later are going to be later in velvet cycle. They will catchup by mid to late August when the first group is about done growing.


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8274990 05/24/21 02:54 PM
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Way too early for me to get excited.


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8275090 05/24/21 04:12 PM
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STX i get it, was just curious if anyone had any good looking pics yet. Trying to stir up some doscussion other than the typical political off season talk....thats all.

Heres one that has me wondering. Had a double main beam buck last year, actually two, but one was there all summer i to early season then vanished and the other was on a neighboring property all summer and came over later in the season....but i digress....i am oretty sure this pic is just angle and not showing any kind of double main or anything, but what do you guys think, any chance this is a double main coming off the left base?

Btw, just trying to stir up a deer centric convo here...

Attached Files 7D78D97E-3FAA-455D-9E38-7128DBFDE20C.jpegA9C4571C-EFC5-4C8D-8C27-8A2C41BB3D93.jpeg
Last edited by Texas buckeye; 05/24/21 04:15 PM.
Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8275100 05/24/21 04:21 PM
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Another one that has promise, not because of how far along he is but because he is already out to the ears and might be just starting to turn in a little, and he is an older buck, not ancient but not young either. We didn’t take any bucks last year so we should have a decent crop of 4/5+ yo bucks roaming this year....

Sorry for the crappy pics, they are thumbs off my cudde camera app and not real shots off the camera.

Attached Files 54E02117-6858-4364-B53E-282EEE178A80.jpeg838F497A-3739-4C1B-B67D-3A1F6388E043.jpeg
Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8275299 05/24/21 07:57 PM
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Working on forks like your pics.


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8275301 05/24/21 08:00 PM
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I've got some forks started on almost all my bucks. Here is a young little 2-3 YO

[Linked Image]

ETA an older guy that has promise

[Linked Image]

Last edited by TLew; 05/24/21 08:02 PM.
Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8275927 05/25/21 01:19 PM
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Looking good

Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8278067 05/27/21 11:57 AM
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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8278370 05/27/21 06:08 PM
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Might just keep this thread going just to keep me off the off topic section....

Funny how they range from barely anything to good growth. As STX said above, its normal and something you see every year.

Bigger antler is same one as above. I love how these guys pour on inches so fast. We need to figure that out and harness that so we can use it medically for good.

Small dude is just the opposite extreme, small. He isn’t super small bodied (meaning he isn’t a yearling or anything) so i do expect he will finish as at least a small 8 pt with thin mass, but time will tell...

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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8278395 05/27/21 06:39 PM
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What I have learned is the longer a buck holds his antlers the later he starts to grow. A very noted wildlife biologist once told me that (in South Texas) the longer a buck held his antlers the healthier he was post rut. Also I think they tend to be more dominant and aggressive(around other deer and best nutrition). I have also seen bucks that were barely at or just past the G2's in late July/early August finish out with a rush. One I can remember ended up being a 6x6 around 170 and 27" inside. He grew till just before he shed the velvet in Sept. I also saw a buck once that shed one antler around the first of April then held the other one until early May. The side the that shed first was at the G1 before the others side came off or was forced off. The late shedding side was way behind but both sides finished at the same time. The good side was a typical 10 pt side while the late side was an 8pt side. IIRC the good side had one NT pt with the 8 pt side was more NT, hence me thinking it was forced to drop off. The next year he was a pretty clean 6x6 typical. So I am guessing he shed both close together. I have also noticed bucks that look thin horned in May to mid June all of a sudden seem to add a lot of mass. Why? Not sure but I would guess it was from some really good timely rains that grew some high protein forbs. I have also noticed a few bucks seem to get wider around early June...was it really from adding width or just adding taller points that made them look wider? Not sure.
I do know (in Central to South Texas) that a buck can add as much as 45% off there total antler growth in the month of June. They are adding spread, main beams and mass at this time. Browtines are first points to grow and finish growing. The primary tines and NT points are the last to grow as the mainbeams are the last to finish growing. A buck that scores 160 is growing an average of 1.5" per day if he starts the first of May and stops the last day of August. A buck scoring over 200 is growing at almost 2" per day. That rate could be faster if the growing period is shorter. I know from watching and observing bucks that around July 1st or so they really starting to add the tine length. They spend the first 45 days or so growing the down frame then add the up frame till the end. Bucks that appear to be done by later July have fooled me and ended up growing a lot more in the last 3 weeks or so of summer.
Antler growth has the 2nd fastest growing tissue known to man. Think about how fast a WT grows, then compare that to a Mule Deer, Elk or even a Moose. The growth rate per day/month is staggering on the larger antlered species. The one tissue that I know of that grows faster than an antler is cancer.


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8278559 05/27/21 10:10 PM
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I have read, and that dosn't mean this is correct, that bucks hold on to their antlers as long as they have circulating testosterone and holding antlers later can be a sign of a young buck just being a young testosterone driven buck, or it could mean the rut is very spread out and doe are coming into estrus over an extended period of time, thus keeping the bucks testosterone driven high. Seems hard to imagine the second scenario is real (that a prolonged rut "enables" bucks to hold antlers longer). I think it is just an individual buck thing, but I know very little.

Good info STX. I have long thought once the antler is formed, at the bases or mains, that the mass is stable. I have not experienced nor witnessed growth late in season for mass and such things, but again, I know very little and am willing to listen.

Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8278593 05/27/21 10:53 PM
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I have seen bucks loose there antlers in late Dec to early Jan in bad years in Central and South Texas. That is where it is normal for them not to start to shed antlers till mid March at the earliest. South Texas is more last week of March to early April. It takes really bad range conditions for bucks to shed early. Most times when bucks are injured in the rut or so run down they will shed early...but that is usually in late Jan to Feb. It is rare but it does happen that bucks will shed in December. I do agree with what you said about the testosterone levels. The length of the rut in many areas of Texas is longer due to the rut starting in Oct to Nov time frames. Throw in early born doe fawns that are old/large enough to cycle and breed...and you have a rut that can last into Feb or even early March. With trail cams usage so prevalent nowadays, we can see things much better that were not known or witnessed before. We notice the length of the rut, the difference in antler growth, first fawns, late fawns, yr to yr history on deer, etc. It seems more people are management minded than ever right now.
I could be wrong about the bucks adding mass, spread, etc after they get a month or more into the antler growth cycle...but I have talked to friends about this and they have felt or seen the same things I have seen. We have discussed this at length and all have seen the same thing a few times on some of the bucks. Not on all of them but on a few every year. Whether it was fact or our eyes playing tricks on us...we all felt we observed the same noticeable changes in the exact same time frames. I have also seen or felt like few bucks I was able to watch grow would hit a wall for a while in June or so and seem to stop growing. Then all of sudden put on a lot new growth in short period of time....then back to steady growth.
One thing I know is that I will never stop trying learn more about whitetails...they keep teaching and I keep absorbing all I can. I am very observant and pay attention when checking trail cams photos, out riding around or hunting.


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8278606 05/27/21 11:02 PM
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Great info all always STx. Its hard to get some of this stuff out of a book and even harder for most hunters to ever spend enough time afield to learn much of this. Trail cameras certainly have made a big difference to those that take the time to study them.
I used to go to great lengths to soak up all knowledge of deer like a sponge, but in my old age I just wait for a STx post.


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8278626 05/27/21 11:24 PM
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Agree FR. Tough to glean as much out of a book or article that can be gleaned in a single post from STX.

And i agree STX, i try to never stop learning about WT, their behavior, their prefernces, biology, etc. always trying to learn.

One thing i did learn this year is the WT really really like strawberry bush, euonymus americanus, aka hearts a burstin bush, american strawberry bush. I bought several plants and they said to cage them because they will be browsed to the ground. I did cage them, and what has poked out the cage has been browsed heavily. Its amazing. Deer candy for sure. Would love to grow more of those, but they will be some work.

Last edited by Texas buckeye; 05/27/21 11:25 PM.
Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: stxranchman] #8278875 05/28/21 11:59 AM
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Originally Posted by stxranchman
I have seen bucks loose there antlers in late Dec to early Jan in bad years in Central and South Texas. That is where it is normal for them not to start to shed antlers till mid March at the earliest. South Texas is more last week of March to early April. It takes really bad range conditions for bucks to shed early. Most times when bucks are injured in the rut or so run down they will shed early...but that is usually in late Jan to Feb. It is rare but it does happen that bucks will shed in December. I do agree with what you said about the testosterone levels. The length of the rut in many areas of Texas is longer due to the rut starting in Oct to Nov time frames. Throw in early born doe fawns that are old/large enough to cycle and breed...and you have a rut that can last into Feb or even early March. With trail cams usage so prevalent nowadays, we can see things much better that were not known or witnessed before. We notice the length of the rut, the difference in antler growth, first fawns, late fawns, yr to yr history on deer, etc. It seems more people are management minded than ever right now.
I could be wrong about the bucks adding mass, spread, etc after they get a month or more into the antler growth cycle...but I have talked to friends about this and they have felt or seen the same things I have seen. We have discussed this at length and all have seen the same thing a few times on some of the bucks. Not on all of them but on a few every year. Whether it was fact or our eyes playing tricks on us...we all felt we observed the same noticeable changes in the exact same time frames. I have also seen or felt like few bucks I was able to watch grow would hit a wall for a while in June or so and seem to stop growing. Then all of sudden put on a lot new growth in short period of time....then back to steady growth.
One thing I know is that I will never stop trying learn more about whitetails...they keep teaching and I keep absorbing all I can. I am very observant and pay attention when checking trail cams photos, out riding around or hunting.

All great information as usual sir

The part bolded is something I notice pretty frequently with the deer on our place. The 4 year old that a new neighbor killed last year was a prime example of this. He seemed to almost stop growing for 2-3 weeks in late June early July and then bam, it almost looked like he added 12"-15" overnight.

One thing is certain, they are amazing animals and tougher than hell. My cousin has a super wide giant 6 point on his place up near Garden Ridge. That deer broke his front leg last year badly and I told him he better kill him as I had a really nice 8 do the same thing the year before and he ended up dying in the spring. His not only made it but is thriving now and is heavier than he's ever been and getting around on 3 legs like nothing is wrong.


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8283616 06/03/21 12:33 PM
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Pretty impressed so far with the mass this one is putting on at my little place.

[Linked Image]



The one below is at my lease and again looking pretty impressive so far. Just hope he has good tine length to go along with the mass, height, and spread he seems to have going on.

[Linked Image]


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: ILUVBIGBUCKS] #8283790 06/03/21 03:19 PM
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Originally Posted by ILUVBIGBUCKS


[Linked Image]




I saw one this weekend at our Mills county place that looked like this, but was already 1-2" longer on his G1s and his beams. I hope to watch him more this summer.
up


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: ILUVBIGBUCKS] #8283821 06/03/21 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted by ILUVBIGBUCKS
Pretty impressed so far with the mass this one is putting on at my little place.

[Linked Image]



The one below is at my lease and again looking pretty impressive so far. Just hope he has good tine length to go along with the mass, height, and spread he seems to have going on.

[Linked Image]


He's got some age also. Looks like a 6 yo.


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: Texas buckeye] #8283837 06/03/21 04:18 PM
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Growing quick in my neck of the woods. Please note, feeder etiquette is similar to urinal etiquette.

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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: QuitShootinYoungBucks] #8283867 06/03/21 05:04 PM
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Originally Posted by QuitShootinYoungBucks



I saw one this weekend at our Mills county place that looked like this, but was already 1-2" longer on his G1s and his beams. I hope to watch him more this summer.
up


Nice!
Hopefully he is mature and finishes out strong and your tag ends up on him this year!


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: snake oil] #8283868 06/03/21 05:05 PM
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Originally Posted by snake oil


He's got some age also. Looks like a 6 yo.

I was thinking the same think snake.
callused knees and just the way he stands flat down on his hooves makes me think 6 or so


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: TLew] #8283870 06/03/21 05:06 PM
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Originally Posted by TLew
Growing quick in my neck of the woods. Please note, feeder etiquette is similar to urinal etiquette.

[Linked Image]



They are growing fast!
Damn nice bucks. roflmao


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Re: Hows that antler coming along? [Re: ILUVBIGBUCKS] #8283916 06/03/21 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by ILUVBIGBUCKS
Pretty impressed so far with the mass this one is putting on at my little place.

[Linked Image]





If thats from your home place I guess I need to get my camera back out.


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