Antler development question

[breederbuck33]

I've seen them bounce back and forth from an 8 point to an 11 point back down to a 9 point. I think there are to many factors that mother nature deals, and it is impossible to have a concrete answer on this.

[Low Fence]

aTm did some research a few years ago. They found that 100% of all 5.5 yo bucks hanging on a skinning rack never made it to 6.5 yo. Pretty convincing data

[hooligan]

aTm did some research a few years ago. They found that 100% of all 5.5 yo bucks hanging on a skinning rack never made it to 6.5 yo. Pretty convincing data

It’s Aggie math so I’m having a hard time believing that one

[gingib]

5yr old 8 pts can very much have potential. Especially if they are big frame deer. I have a 163" 9 pt that was a 140ish slick 8 at 5yrs old. We killed him as a 9yr old.

One of the bucks I will be targeting this year will finish 160"+ and he was a slick 8 at 5 and 6 yrs old.

100% agree! We shot a 157 8 last year on small acreage.

And I have one this year that is pushing 140 at 4.5

BUT, 90% of all 8s need to be shot by 4.5. The top 5-10% of them I like to let go like the ones mentioned above.

[gingib]

This is one of the bucks in question. I saw he needs a couple more years

I don't know your herd.

But IMO that buck is 4.5 and likely to add more mass next year. Not sure he will throw more points but no one knows. Tine length and mass would be my guess.

[kylealford]

We had a buck last year that was a 5yr old slick 6 with no brows. He was on the kill list but never showed his face. This year I started protein and you wouldn't believe it but he came back as a typical 10pt at 6yrs old. Brows are pretty weak still but definitely goes against the consensus if a deer doesn't have brows when he is young then he will never have them. I'm sure he is just an anomaly but pretty cool still.

[freerhunter16]

100% agree! We shot a 157 8 last year on small acreage.

And I have one this year that is pushing 140 at 4.5

BUT, 90% of all 8s need to be shot by 4.5. The top 5-10% of them I like to let go like the ones mentioned above.

I’ll agree to that! We kill majority of 8 pts between 3 and 5. We just have too many multi pointed deer to justify leaving their mouth on the feed bill. The special ones are the only ones we let get old.

[DOUBLE-Z]

we've got a buck this year that is 7.5, he was a 10 at age 4.5, and the last 3 years he has been a 9, with very little to no change over the last 3 years. He eats protein and corn year round.

I guess it just depends on the deer.

[freerhunter16]

we've got a buck this year that is 7.5, he was a 10 at age 4.5, and the last 3 years he has been a 9, with very little to no change over the last 3 years. He eats protein and corn year round.

I guess it just depends on the deer.

No doubt about that. Some of our deer have their best set of headgear at 5 and some continue to grow at 10yrs+.

[HTOWN]

If you feed double down, then maybe 13-15 years of age. And they will constantly grow stickers..jk

But nice deer, and very good question