Beardendy88 said:
Isn't antler growth triggered by increases in sunlight?
The timing of many biological processes in deer, including antlergenesis (the growth of the new set of antlers), is controlled by the pineal gland in the brain, and the pineal gland's internal clock tracks the length of daylight as the days lengthen in spring and shorten in fall. The pineal gland triggers the production of different hormones, and is responsible for producing the short-lived surge of testosterone in spring that triggers the growth of the new set of antlers. Each deer will have the exact length of days needed to trigger this testosterone surge genetically programmed into their system. The exact timing will be different for deer in different regions, timed locally for whatever produces the best biological result (Natural Selection).