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How much do you think the enhanced habitat through the years plays a role? It takes years, generations even, but healthy mommas give birth to healthy fawns and that good health is expressed in their racks. You reckon you're seeing the result of habitat enhancements for years?
 
Ski said:
How much do you think the enhanced habitat through the years plays a role? It takes years, generations even, but healthy mommas give birth to healthy fawns and that good health is expressed in their racks. You reckon you're seeing the result of habitat enhancements for years?
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It takes a minimum of 5 years before there is any noticeable improvement in quality of bucks antler score wise.. MS State had proven this with penned wild deer, and it's been my experience as well with larger habitat projects.

Basically, to make a sig jump in antler scores, the mother has to have superior nutrition during the pregnancy and superior milk while nursing to give that buck fawn an edge over his peers. Then that buck has to reach his genetic potential by aging 4 more years. All the while receiving quality nutrition throughout his formative years.

Folks need to know this so they aren't disappointed if they don't see antler score improvements in a year or two after planting plots or managing habitat. It's a LONG term investment
 
Ski said:
How much do you think the enhanced habitat through the years plays a role? It takes years, generations even, but healthy mommas give birth to healthy fawns and that good health is expressed in their racks. You reckon you're seeing the result of habitat enhancements for years?
Click to expand...
I'm seeing the results of my neighbors' farming practices! Would love to say we are growing these kinds of bucks, but it's the tens of thousands of surrounding acres of highly productive bottomland agriculture that are growing these bucks.
 
megalomaniac said:
It takes a minimum of 5 years before there is any noticeable improvement in quality of bucks antler score wise.. MS State had proven this with penned wild deer, and it's been my experience as well with larger habitat projects.

Basically, to make a sig jump in antler scores, the mother has to have superior nutrition during the pregnancy and superior milk while nursing to give that buck fawn an edge over his peers. Then that buck has to reach his genetic potential by aging 4 more years. All the while receiving quality nutrition throughout his formative years.

Folks need to know this so they aren't disappointed if they don't see antler score improvements in a year or two after planting plots or managing habitat. It's a LONG term investment
Click to expand...

That's precisely what I was asking. BSK has been working the place for many years so I was wondering if he's seeing any increase in buck quality now vs. when he first began. Granted the genetic potential isn't necessarily going to change, and there has probably always been an occasional buck that reaches potential even without habitat work. But doing the work not only offers some level of protection but also helps fill the nutritional gaps of late winter when food is scarce. One would think with enough successive years of it there would be perhaps a noticeable increase in the occurrence of bucks reaching their potential.
 
Ski said:
That's precisely what I was asking. BSK has been working the place for many years so I was wondering if he's seeing any increase in buck quality now vs. when he first began. Granted the genetic potential isn't necessarily going to change, and there has probably always been an occasional buck that reaches potential even without habitat work. But doing the work not only offers some level of protection but also helps fill the nutritional gaps of late winter when food is scarce. One would think with enough successive years of it there would be perhaps a noticeable increase in the occurrence of bucks reaching their potential.
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Not seeing a huge increase in the size of our summer resident bucks, but we absolutely ARE seeing is a huge increase in the number of summer residents. Used to be, we would only have 5 or 6 summer residents. Now we have about 15-20. In fact, we exploded our records for number of bucks drawn to the property during the fall months. We used to average about 35 total bucks photographed Oct-Dec. This year, as of Nov. 21, we just recorded our 65th unique buck, with 24 of those being 2 1/2+.
 
ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER said:
BSK, is that your first droptine buck sighting on your property or is that trait common
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Very rare. Of the hundreds of bucks I've photographed on my place over the last 25 years, I think I've seen it just twice before. Had an old buck with double drops, but he broke one off just days before I killed him.

Here he is with his remaining droptine. He's still the only 6 1/2 year-old buck I've ever killed.
 

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BSK said:
Very rare. Of the hundreds of bucks I've photographed on my place over the last 25 years, I think I've seen it just twice before. Had an old buck with double drops, but he broke one off just days before I killed him.

Here he is with his remaining droptine. He's still the only 6 1/2 year-old buck I've ever killed.
Click to expand...
Stud ! I killed one in my hunting career .
 
BSK said:
Very rare. Of the hundreds of bucks I've photographed on my place over the last 25 years, I think I've seen it just twice before. Had an old buck with double drops, but he broke one off just days before I killed him.

Here he is with his remaining droptine. He's still the only 6 1/2 year-old buck I've ever killed.
Click to expand...
Very nice buck
 
BSK said:
I'm seeing the results of my neighbors' farming practices! Would love to say we are growing these kinds of bucks, but it's the tens of thousands of surrounding acres of highly productive bottomland agriculture that are growing these bucks.
Click to expand...

Our lease was immediately taken out of cattle and fence rows cleared to plant ag crops about 7 years ago. Since then the best scoring deer we have killed was the first buck we killed that lived on the property during the cattle years.. The real difference is cover and hunting pressure.. I do think the ag has increased our carrying capacity though.
 
megalomaniac said:
It takes a minimum of 5 years before there is any noticeable improvement in quality of bucks antler score wise.. MS State had proven this with penned wild deer, and it's been my experience as well with larger habitat projects.

Basically, to make a sig jump in antler scores, the mother has to have superior nutrition during the pregnancy and superior milk while nursing to give that buck fawn an edge over his peers. Then that buck has to reach his genetic potential by aging 4 more years. All the while receiving quality nutrition throughout his formative years.

Folks need to know this so they aren't disappointed if they don't see antler score improvements in a year or two after planting plots or managing habitat. It's a LONG term investment
Click to expand...
All of this^^^^

I could write a book on just this, a thick book! 10 years from a pigs ear to a shining star (in my book). The property sold 2 years ago, new owners limited improvements and largely want to just let it exist. Yet they are killing a limited number of bucks better than we ever did. These bucks are 5,6,7 years old so they are deer that benefited from our improvements and management and are evidence of what 12 years can do. From 130 ish average to 2 bucks in high 160's and 2 in high to mid 170's plus a high 150's 8 pointer during the last 2 years.
I also witnessed a transition from a doe sink with few resident bucks to a buck heavy property. Everything was linked to improved food quality and ample cover over a period long enough to have afforded multiple generations to have experienced dramatic improvements in health and safety. There may well be 4 more years of results to be attributable (to some degree) to our work there.
 
Popcorn said:
All of this^^^^

I could write a book on just this, a thick book! 10 years from a pigs ear to a shining star (in my book). The property sold 2 years ago, new owners limited improvements and largely want to just let it exist. Yet they are killing a limited number of bucks better than we ever did. These bucks are 5,6,7 years old so they are deer that benefited from our improvements and management and are evidence of what 12 years can do. From 130 ish average to 2 bucks in high 160's and 2 in high to mid 170's plus a high 150's 8 pointer during the last 2 years.
I also witnessed a transition from a doe sink with few resident bucks to a buck heavy property. Everything was linked to improved food quality and ample cover over a period long enough to have afforded multiple generations to have experienced dramatic improvements in health and safety. There may well be 4 more years of results to be attributable (to some degree) to our work there.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I meant when I asked if he thought these up & coming big bucks could be attributed to years of habitat work.
 

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