Bill,
From what you wrote, I would conclude that pen raised deer respond differently than wild deer. In my observations of wild deer, I have seen that larger racked bucks will hold longer than sub bucks. I have witnessed bachelor groups on many occasions in March, (this is always my luck, no hunting then) and the smaller bodied individuals are almost always the ones with empty sockets, and the bucks with headgear intact almost always have a heck of a nice rack. Again, my observations. I do not wish toignore scientific study. Did Latitiude factor in any of these studies? I have seen smallish bucks in March with one side missing. I have not seen a larger buck with one side missing as of yet. I have gone shed hunting several times in mid-Feb over the years and have never found a thing. Would the severity of the winter have any effect?