Antler Growth in Dry Years vs Wet years

[HullinPhx]

I was talking with a Biologist a few weeks back and he said there is not a huge difference between antler growth during a wet year vs dry year, I want to get other peoples opinions on it. He said it is only about 4% per year. So if a bull is 400in in a wet year and the next year is a dry one that bull might come back as a 386 bull. Just wondering if anybody has been able to pick up some sheds from the same bull in different years and have been able to compair them dry vs wet years.

Thanks,

John

 

[Huntemup]

I would tend to agree with the biologist that there is not a "huge" difference, but there definitely can be a difference. I think there are too many variables, in addition to moisture, to consider (ie: injury, overall health, age, genetics, etc). Usually moisture may not make a huge difference because, in my area, bulls tend to summer in the highest, coolest, wettest areas where the food is great throughout most of the summer. If it gets dry, they move to a better place.

When I've picked up sheds from the same animal they usually are bigger from one year to the next or sometimes almost identical in size...even on dry years. Once the animal starts to get old though, the antlers I've found tend to get smaller in tine length, even lose some tines, and get smaller in overall size...even in wet years.

Something else I've noticed with sheds from extremely dry years compared to wet years is the density of the bone around the marrow/center. I recall one extremely dry year with poor feed where 75% of the antlers I found had broken points or beams. The hard structure around the marrow/center was thin (I don't know if you call the center of the antler marrow or something else??). On wetter years I don't find nearly as many broken antlers, and when I do you can see that the hard bone around the center is thicker and much harder.

This would make an interesting study or research project!

 

[ansonlynn]

I expect the context here is the effect of current-year moisture on antler growth.

I believe moisture can have a much larger, more complex effect. Quantity of antler growth is largely a function of body condition when bucks start growing antlers - early spring. Several factors affect body condition going into spring: body condition going into winter, quantity/quality of winter forage, amount of harassment/disturbance, and winter severity.

The greatest variability seems to occur in sub-dominant bucks. I've seen it through a couple of cycles now, where a post-die-off, low population density herd experiences a wet year followed by a mild winter. The following year, 2-yo bucks had racks like 4 yos, 3 yos like 5 yos, etc. Those are good years to be a horn hunter! BIG 5-9 y.o. bucks seem to show much less variability in antler growth with weather, I believe because they've already attained the vast majority of their body growth.

When conditions worsen, either with too many deer on the range, harsher winters, or drought, the antler growth on the young bucks can go way down.

 

[canon]

That biologist doesnt know what he is talking about. I dont have as many sheds as video, but hours and hours of video of the same bulls year after year proves that the drought hammers bulls anywhere from 5-10%. Here we go again....

 

[ismith]

Your a funny guy canon! Thanks for the laugh!
ismith

"Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ~ anonymous

 

[bigbone]

Huntemup knows what he's talking about. You have to find alot of antler to figure that out but he is right in that the antlers are of a lower quality and seem to break more often after a dry summer, give the same herd a wet summer and sheds are heavy, solid, and few are broken. I am really am unsure about size, I think its close either way, but I think the big change is the density of that outer wall or shell which is where the strength and weight of the antler is.




^BIGBONE^