Lack of Significant Growth With Age -- Just A Southern Thing?

[bigbendmarine]

As a caveat to the thread title I can't say it is consistently a problem in our neck of the woods (North Florida), as I have seen some of our deer transitioning from 2.5 to 3.5 and 4.5 showing gains...

but...

In 2020 I happily gave this buck a few passes in hopes he'd gain tine height and / or mass with another year or two...





Only to have him show up in front of me again this year looking almost identical, and if anything possibly losing a bit of tine length on his G3s which were one of the factors that made it easier to pass on him in the first place. And pictures shared are from pretty much the same exact time of year (near Thanksgiving) even though plot was greener in 2020 as I was delayed planting in 2021 due to tractor thermostat having to be replaced.





Living on the land I hunt I get to see deer near-daily, and can add that this past year after the neighbor and I harvested two target list bucks it looked like this buck temporarily took over a fair amount of breeding privileges, though maybe he wasn't quite ready for it? The reason I say that is he looked REALLY worn down and thin by February, and to me looks a bit thinner this fall as well despite no intense weather stressors.



Just a few more pics actually taken from the stand for whatever they're worth / whatever anyone might be able to decipher from them. On a positive note, I recently had a decent stranger buck provide some camera hits making it all the easier to continue passing on this buck. NOT asking the question out of frustration as much as just curiosity whether or not those of you further north and / or in the midwest see the same phenomena in a portion of your bucks? Sure makes aging them a bit harder when their body shape doesn't seem to match expected changes.

 

[DiSc0Rd]

My wife tells me it's genetic and can't be helped, but she loves me anyway

 

[Bill]

With out a date stamp on their rump I couldn't age a Florida deer. Any chance he was a nice 2.5 YO last year and didn't do much going to 3.5?

 

[Bassattackr]

Not just a FL thing. We've had a few bucks be almost identical two years in a row, then sometimes they'll jump again. Never know..

This small boddied buck is 4.5 in '20 (left in daylight) and this year 5.5 (dark photo). He gained some tine length but may have dropped one on his left side, perhaps gained a kicker..

We had another buck (not pictured) that was identical from 4.5 to 5.5 but only gained a tiny sticker on each of his G2s maybe 1" long. Hard to say.. Wild animals, not machines I guess..



You may be surprised, he could take a good jump next year.

 

[Tree Spud]

Genetics, soil, & sub species type.

You have either Florida coastal whitetail or Florida Whitetail deer. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I don’t know how much of anomaly it is, I have one right now that hasn’t done anything from the 2019 season to now but I have another that put on about 40” from last year to this year and roughy 60 plus from 2 years ago. I guess you just never know.
On a side note, that last deer you posted is a hammer for north Florida

 

[Booner21]

Wonder how much his antler growth was affected by going into the growing season ran down from the year before.

I have seen a few deer that never really did much from 3.5-4.5.


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[SwampCat]

Southern deer, outside of the delta, in my experience, show what they have at 3 yrs old. Not saying that is the same with every deer, but around my place, is the same with most deer. The three deer pictured are the three my hunters killed this year. I had passed the top two multiple times. From top to bottom, aged by tooth wear, 5.5, 4.5, and 3.5. The top deer was here last year. Might have gained a hair in mass - but that is it. At most, a 110-115” deer. The second deer was one we did not recognize from the year before. He broke off half his main beam first week of Oct. Short tines. Probably would never break 120-125”. The bottom deer is a 3.5 yr old that we could not place from last year, but they typically make their biggest jump from 2 to 3, so we just might not recognize him. This is one of those questionable deer. Not gonna be a monster, but might be decent next year - MIGHT. Eleven yr old grand daughter took him - and what she wants, she gets.

Our top deer will be 150 and maybe slightly larger. They are true anomalies. One out of ten 5 yr old deer. They are typically big at 3, and bigger at 4. I have never see a deer at our place increase 40” from 3 to 4. Typically, our deer peak at 5 and start losing points - either number or length - but continue to add some mass.

I read all the time that folks kill these big 7 or 8 yr old deer in the midwest. Below is a typical 7 yr old deer in my area - if they live that long


They start going down hill at my place after 5 most of the time. i have more 110” 4 yr olds on my place than 4 yr old 135” deer. It is a southern thing in most non ag areas.

 

[homerj1]

FL deer are a different sub-species than many other areas in the U.S., right?

 

[SWIFFY]

It happens everywhere. Some of them just "got it" and some just dont!

Typically, for example, I find if theres a bachelor group of ... say... 5 bucks of similar age. 1 will grow huge proportions/ 3 will grow "normal"/ I 1 wont grow at all... or even get worse. Also, the buck you usually think will explode.... DOESN'T, and the buck you dont think will amount to nothing will end up growing really well. With deer you just never know! I guess that what makes it fun and keeps us guessing.

Great pics by the way

 

[g squared 23]

If they aren’t something special by 3.5, they are statistically unlikely to amount to squat. There are exceptions that prove every rule, but clean stubby 8s at 3.5 tend to stay that way, likely no matter where they are or how old they get. The difference is that the average score of midwest is higher with a much higher ceiling for the freaks.


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[MN Slick]

Very common . Only 30% of bucks have the potential to be above average. They usually show this at younger ages and in high pressure areas usually don't make it past 3 years old.

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[Nightvision]

Not all deer will be superstars no matter where they live.

Also, that deer was breeding does anyway. Think about it. The majority of does come into estrous in a 2-3 week period. Most properties, at best, are 3/1 on the buck to doe ratio and many are a lot more skewed than that. Take a southern property that has 35 dpsm. In a 3/1 ratio, only 9 would be bucks and of that how many are mature? When those 26 does come into heat, there’s not near enough mature bucks to breed them. Sure, if the does don’t get bred they’ll cycle back in but young bucks do a lot of breeding.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Not all deer will be superstars no matter where they live.

Also, that deer was breeding does anyway. Think about it. The majority of does come into estrous in a 2-3 week period. Most properties, at best, are 3/1 on the buck to doe ratio and many are a lot more skewed than that. Take a southern property that has 35 dpsm. In a 3/1 ratio, only 9 would be bucks and of that how many are mature? When those 26 does come into heat, there’s not near enough mature bucks to breed them. Sure, if the does don’t get bred they’ll cycle back in but young bucks do a lot of breeding.

Not following why it matters if young bucks breed?

 

[Nightvision]

Not following why it matters if young bucks breed?

In the OPs post, he made mention that after a couple of hit listers were killed that the buck in the photo was able to take over more of the breeding. I was simply pointing out that he was most likely already breeding even when the mature bucks were still alive.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

In the OPs post, he made mention that after a couple of hit listers were killed that the buck in the photo was able to take over more of the breeding. I was simply pointing out that he was most likely already breeding even when the mature bucks were still alive.

Gotcha I wasn’t following. Makes sense

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is a buck at 2.5, 3.5 and 7.5. He had a beam broken off at 2.5. You will see that from 3.5 to 7.5 it was mostly just a little mass added and his little sticker grew a tiny bit.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Here is a buck at 2.5, 3.5 and 7.5. He had a beam broken off at 2.5. You will see that from 3.5 to 7.5 it was mostly just a little mass added and his little sticker grew a tiny bit.

I totally get the idea of letting deer get to a certain age before putting them on the proverbially hit list…but deer like yours above is why I feel better about assigning a score criteria on my property. Very little was gained by letting that deer get to 7.5 other than the risk of never getting the opportunity to shoot him. But if he met my score criteria, which is already lofty, then I don’t necessarily miss out on that chance. Additionally I give hunters about a 10% chance of getting a deers age correct on the hoof without extensive, unmistakable history.

 

[Native Hunter]

This is the biggest one year change I have ever seen in any deer. I still can hardly believe it.

 

[Nightvision]

Deer are like people in that some will naturally be giants and some will not. Most can and will get bigger with age and proper nutrition but thinking that every deer will be a superstar just because they have a unlimited and high quality diet is silly. Just like I’ll never be a 6’4” 275lb giant no matter what I’m fed.

However, they also will not be what they’re capable of if they’re shot at 3.5. I try and let them get to 4.5 At that point, I assume they’re close enough to being maxed and I’m very happy with shooting them regardless of their headgear.