My son got video of these 3 bucks 30 minutes or so prior to this video on my camera. They crossed the rd in front of his truck about 350 yards from my camera.
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Different looking racks
- Thread starter mossyoakmantn
- Start date
Another video
BSK
Well-Known Member
Strangely, I see more and more of these "one screwy antler" bucks with each passing year. I have no idea why, other than more older bucks in the population, more fighting, hence more opportunities for body and antler pedicle injuries.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
BSK
Well-Known Member
It's crazy how many of these I see now. used to be very rare. Now, commonplace.
BSK
Well-Known Member
If it is due to a body injury, it could fix itself the next year. If pedicle injury, it will only get worse.
I agree 100%. Unintended, unforeseen byproduct of conservation practices. For most of my life hunters killed any buck just because it was a buck, even if it were a 4pt yearling. In more modern times the hunter mindset has changed to allowing young bucks to grow so there would be more and bigger bucks to hunt. And it works. But more rack bucks means more competition for does and these funky antlers I believe is the result. Not exactly what anyone anticipated but in hindsight makes sense. I see so many rack bucks these days that seeing a yearling buck doesn't even raise an eyebrow. I remember a time when seeing any buck at all was a big deal.
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
BSK
Well-Known Member
I agree. I started deer hunting in the late 70s in KY. Seeing an antlered buck was a rare treat. I remember when a season's success was judged on whether you saw an antlered buck or not! My how things have changed.
BSK
Well-Known Member
The one interesting caveat I would add to this is I believe it is more about buck density than it is age structure. I have numerous projects where I've been monitoring the buck population for years. And in several of these, the buck age structure - the percent of bucks in the older and mature age-classes - hasn't changed much over the years. But what has changed is the total number of bucks; i.e. the buck density. The buck density - total number of bucks per square mile - has gone up and sometimes dramatically. The percentage of bucks with "one screwy antler" has increased hand-in-hand with these buck density numbers and doesn't seem to be a closely correlated with changes in buck age structure.
Now this doesn't mean buck age structure plays no role. These monitored properties have been working on improving their buck age structure for many years, hence have had older buck age structures for many years. So I strongly suspect suddenly improving the buck age structure on a property would produce an increase in screwy racks, but a sudden increase in buck density appears to be a more powerful player.
Agree 100%. I grew up hunting southern Ohio and remember the 90's heyday when it seemed everybody was killing giants across the midwest. Older hunters talk about that era as the golden age of whitetail hunting, but as an objective observer who lived it, I think right now is better.
That's an interesting observation and parallel to draw. I'd say your suspicions are probably spot on. I sure can't disagree because I've noticed the same trend.
Raising buck age structure by default requires bumping buck population because we have to allow bucks to live. They can't get old if they're dying young. I think the boon of 2yr & 3yr old bucks is likely the source of the weird racks. Anecdotally what I see in trail cam observations is middle age bucks sparring constantly, often times aggressively. Older bucks seem to intimidate the younger bucks and can effectively ward them off without having to touch horns.
Also an odd thing I've noticed is that the vast majority of weird rack bucks I see all fall into the middle age group. I'm not seeing a lot of older bucks with deformed antlers. But like you said, there doesn't seem to be a big boon of older class bucks so perhaps that answers it. Only 5%-10% of young or mid age bucks I see have weird racks. If the same percentage holds true for mature bucks then it would be rare for me to see it because I only see maybe a half dozen mature bucks any given season and that's spread out across multiple properties combined. The 2-3 weird rack bucks I see per every 20-30 mid and early age bucks would be equivalent to seeing one weird rack mature buck every several years. And that's actually about what I see.
Which begs the question, why not a boon in mature bucks? I think there is. They're just getting killed by more hunters than ever before. Used to be big old bucks were majority killed by only a select few hunters. Now big buck hero pics are commonplace with an array of hunters. I think the deer hunting society as a whole is benefiting and killing older, bigger bucks. More and more hunters are understanding that allowing young bucks to walk equals bigger bucks to tag, and as result more hunters are killing big bucks. I think perhaps that is why we're not seeing a big spike in older bucks to mirror the spike in the other age groups. It's because the focus has shifted from killing just any buck to only killing old bucks.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Fascinating points Ski and exactly what I'm seeing. Not a huge increase in mature bucks, but a crazy increase in 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year-old bucks. And they're always the ones I get on camera fighting/sparring. In fact, last year I saw such a huge jump in 3 1/2 year-old bucks that I began to question my aging. I kept thinking I'm under-aging some of these 3 1/2s. A few have to be mature. But after going over these bucks one year removed, I'm convinced my ages were correct. We're just seeing a big jump in 3 1/2 year-old bucks. And probably as you mentioned, because more hunters are focusing on only hunting and killing mature bucks, at which they have become more successful.
I also think what you guys are saying is also spot on! Our age class of bucks has SUBSTANTIALLY gone up in the last 10 years or so.
I think as we mature as hunters it becomes more about quality and not quantity! How many countless 4,6 and basket rack 8s have you killed in your younger days? Do nit get me wrong, I have ZERO issue for those that kill younger bucks as long as they are legal! I never knock another man's choice in what he shoots. It seems as though that we're not just "hunting" deer were "managing" deer.
I explain to non hunting people that just because we shoot and kill deer dies not mean we don't love,care or respect the but just tge contrary. I get alot of enjoyment out of seeing a doe raising her fawn just like I enjoy watching tge progression of a nice buck throughout the summer. I think in my opinion hunters are more educated which in turn makes them better Stewards of tge land and wildlife.
I think as we mature as hunters it becomes more about quality and not quantity! How many countless 4,6 and basket rack 8s have you killed in your younger days? Do nit get me wrong, I have ZERO issue for those that kill younger bucks as long as they are legal! I never knock another man's choice in what he shoots. It seems as though that we're not just "hunting" deer were "managing" deer.
I explain to non hunting people that just because we shoot and kill deer dies not mean we don't love,care or respect the but just tge contrary. I get alot of enjoyment out of seeing a doe raising her fawn just like I enjoy watching tge progression of a nice buck throughout the summer. I think in my opinion hunters are more educated which in turn makes them better Stewards of tge land and wildlife.
