I think this buck is unlikely to survive this year's deer season.
Same outcome for most places I hunt. Top end 2.5s and 3.5s who like to roam (most of them), and show themselves during daylight in Nov/Dec rarely make it. They often "disappear" because they are in someone's freezer by December 1.
And by comparison, below-averaged antlered 3 1/2's will commonly be passed up by multiple hunters, and live to full maturity (in these same most places I hunt).
THAT has been my single-biggest challenge in trying to produce more above-average antlered older bucks on a relatively large property in TN. Most of the truly top-end antlered bucks get killed as 2 1/2's. Those that survive 2 1/2, then typically get heavily, specifically "targeted" as 3 1/2's, and are killed then.
We hunt our property HARD. Much harder than neighboring properties are hunted. But I'm sure glad we don't hunt in a high-pressure environment like you describe. We definitely see a few top-end 2 1/2s get taken, but have no problem getting top-end 3 1/2+ bucks another year older. On 500 acres, each year we usually have at least one mature buck pushing the 150 mark, and a couple of bucks in the 130-140 range.
Bold text is likely doing more for your property than any "management" can. Low pressure areas are golden, just so hard to come by in my lifetime, and even harder to hold on to for any length of time.
The amazing thing is, it's the entire part of the county I hunt in. Used to be, open day of MZ or gun, sounded like a war. Now, if I hear 5 gunshots the entire opening weekend of gun season, that's pretty busy. Hunting pressure in the whole area is WAY down over the last 20 years.
I think that is the case in most areas, BUT . . . .
I've generally got at least one 6 1/2 year-old buck using my place every year. Yet in all the years we've been photographing them, we've killed a grand total of just one 6 1/2 year-old buck. They are amazingly hard to see and kill, even when they exist.
I wouldn't think a deer would change that much in a months time
Depends on the month.
I've seen some pretty significant weight gain on bucks particularly before the rut and after the rut ends. Before the rut testosterone rises and it's like a body builder on steroids. During the rut they lean up and aren't eating as much. A lot of stress on them if they're very rut active. After the rut in the winter (especially if a good winter food source is available) they'll pack on a lot of fat
Very nice young buck!
As TheLBLMan posted, bucks put on a MASSIVE amount of muscle in October, leading up to the rut. Their testosterone levels are about 10 times what a teenage human male has in his blood. Hunters used to talk about how bucks' necks "swell" for the rut. Their necks don't swell; that's pure muscle. And post-rut, bucks can lose weight even faster due to exertions during the rut and lack of time to eat. A mature buck can lose 30% of his body weight in a month. That's a 200 lb mature buck just before the rut dropping to 140 lbs in a month to a month and a half.
