Above ave antler growth this year?

[Cooter]

Not sure about elsewhere but many parts of WI had an early green up this spring and more than enough rain througout the summer. Should lead to some brutes for this fall. Anyone else have similar growing conditions in your area? Gonna be lots of pics of monsters to drool over in the next few months.

[sticknstring]

Agreed. Pretty much the entire state of MN has been the same way. Should be some dandies shot this fall.

[Bear55]

Yep looking good, plenty of rain all spring summer usually leads to more antler. You can really tell the different up north, some years the mature bucks are sport 3-4 inch tines, on the good years those babies are in the 6-10 inch range.

[matchset]

its not as dramatic in the midwest as in Texas; but yes, rainfall does affect antler growth!

and this year should be a FANTASTIC year!

[swampbuck]

Saw a whopper this morning when I pulled out of my driveway! Really nice heavy 10 pt Had no idea he was in the area eating apples in neighbors back yard!

think I might be sitting by that apple tree next week

[vister]

its not as dramatic in the midwest as in Texas; but yes, rainfall does affect antler growth!

and this year should be a FANTASTIC year!

agreed! even on dry years in the upper midwest, there is still plenty of forage for deer to get proper nutrition. unless the deer population is out of control that is

[BobT]

Gee. All this talk about how the weather should produce such good results and considering that we just experienced two rather dry years, actually very dry years, it would seem to reflect why antlers were not being produced as nice. Kind of has me wondering why there has been so much to-do about APR. Maybe just jumping the gun or perhaps using the conditions as they were as ammunition for an excuse to push an agenda? Well, hopefully in a couple months I'll help you by reducing the herd a little more to cut the competition and maybe those brutes your so looking for will have half a chance.

Good luck this fall.

[PurpleFloyd]

Maybe we should look at limiting shooting bucks to years where we have above average rainfall as part of QDM

[matchset]

Maybe we should look at limiting shooting bucks to years where we have above average rainfall as part of QDM

QDM is not about antler size. rather, balanced heard, healthy age structure, harvesting does and only mature bucks.

[PurpleFloyd]

How do you define a mature buck if not by antler size?

[vister]

Easy now. We're talkin weather and rain affecting antler development, not QDM

[slimngrizzly]

I would agree with Vister that MN has plenty of nutrients regaurdless of rainfall.... however this year has been interesting. Many of the bucks I know to be only 3 yr olds put on a lot more growth overall and i have a dud 5 1/2 yr old 8 point that grew considerably this season.... but then theres those 150 deer that just stayed 150 too.... i dont know? Always interesting and fun!

Ive been pondering whether it was "climate" related or maybe because Im "drugging" these boys with more and more nutrient supplements each year! I think thats helping in the spring give deer a jump start to the antler growth! And theres A LOT more people doing it! I think its really showing!?

[InTheNorthwoods]

How do you define a mature buck if not by antler size?

Age. Antler size is but one indicator to be used in judging age.

As to antler growth, I would say that the early spring has been a bigger bonus to antler growth this season (as opposed to rain). The early spring gave deer a leg up going into antler development as their bodies recovered physically from the winter sooner so that some of their energy could be dedicated to antler development rather than body mass recovery. How much of a difference is a question I don't have an answer for, but compared to the late spring last year (2009) I think that this year was a better year (by how much, I can't really say - this year we have no spikes on camera, and many of the yearlings have 6 or more points).

[slimngrizzly]

Funny you say that! I have pictures of 18 different bucks in my section.... and come to think of it.... NOT ONE spike this year!

[matchset]

How do you define a mature buck if not by antler size?

Age. maturity is achieved when bodily growth is fulfilled. antler grow is secondary in the whitetail world; but is maximized when a deer reaches full maturity.