Friday, January 20, 2006
The Bucks Are Still Holding Their Antlers
Antlered bucks in late January seem to surprise many hunters who visit the ranch to hunt for the first time. They are accustomed to many deer on the outside, and around the state, that drop their antlers in early December.
We’ve had some bucks hold their antlers into March although that is most unusual elsewhere. Part of the reason it happens here is due to good genetics, a stable herd size and an abundance of good food.
A hunter who came to visit, to buy a new bow and to hunt yesterday shot a handsome 8-point buck last night, and he was tickled to see a buck still carrying his headgear. The antlers were still solid on the head, and showed no signs of loosening their grip.
Now today we’re trying to get another hunter into a nice buck. Bright sunny weather after last night’s snow storm swept through and it dumped up to eight inches of ice in some areas.
Late-season hunting on my enclosure is not much different than hunting here in November and early December. It’s not uncommon to see several nice antlered bucks in one night.
The one thing we must watch for when shooting does to thin down the herd is for antlerless bucks. Occasionally a buck that has dropped his antlers will be mistaken for a doe. We need to study the deer at great length to make certain the animal isn’t a buck that has shed its antlers.
A fresh snow is great for hunting on but bright sunny days sometimes produce good sightings of deer. However, it’s that period just before a winter storm that can get almost every deer on the ranch up and moving. Deer often move ahead of a storm to feed.
Deer, like birds to a bird feeder, can to some degree forecast an approaching storm. I know at my bird feeder, the chickadees swarm in to the feeder two or three hours before a storm arrives. They are stocking up on food to carry them through the storm.
We’ll be out tonight on stand, and the forecast is for some more light snow later in the evening. It may or may not arrive, but we still have to remove some antlerless deer to keep our herd at our desired management level.
What many don’t know about owners of private herds is that the heads of roughly 20 percent of the deer taken each year are collected by us and given to the DNR for testing. This is true with every enclosure in the state.
If we shoot 100 deer, including bucks, does and fawns, 20 of those heads will be retained by us to meet our quota. It will include the heads of bucks, does and fawns. The DNR wants a sampling of all three groups, and we often will shoot what I call a “scrub” buck, one that is mis-shapened or it’s obvious that it will never carry a decent rack.
We have very few spikehorns on my ranch. Most 1 1/2-year-old bucks will look young but can carry a decent first rack. At 2 1/2, the antler spread is greater, and may have eight or 10 points, but the mass isn’t there. The older the buck gets, up to a point, the greater the mass.
There is a number of things that can contribute to a big rack. Time is one of the most important. Age, good food, good genetics and a lack of stress from over-crowding is what allows bucks to grown huge racks.
We look for old bucks with short points, paddlehorns (bucks with flattened padding or webbing of antlers), and bucks that are not up to a standard that we want, and some of those are taken to fulfill our quota.
Managing a deer herd is not nearly as easy as one might think. We spend a great deal of time studying the deer in our herd, and those that look as if they may die during the winter are removed.
The ones that are taken by winter hunters are those bucks that have held their antlers. They often are the strongest animals. They are robust, and in their prime, and each one—whether an 8- 10- or 12-point—are trophy animals.—The Whitetail Wizard