ORIGINAL: Schultzy
ORIGINAL: early in
ORIGINAL: Schultzy
ORIGINAL: Germ
It makes sense, he is putting his energy into sex and not antler growth or body growth.
He's called Dr Deer for a reason
I think this would pertain more to the older 3.5 and 4.5 year old. The 2.5's in my neck of the woods I don't think do nearly as much chasing as the 3.5 and 4.5's so I wouldn't think it would affect them nearly as much if any at all. Its said that a mature buck can loose 70% of his body fat during the rut.
Interesting none the less I guess.
The facts that Kroll came up with were basedon 2.5 year olddeer in an enclosure where there were no mature bucks to influence the study. This forced them to do the breeding that older bucks, 3.5 & 4.5 year olds,
would normally be doing. This is where his observations on antler growth came from.
That would make more sense then.
Also Steve, this study was interesting to me because there are very few 3.5-5.5 year old bucks (who should doing the bulk of the breeding) in my specific area. I believe this is a bigplayer in whyI don't see big bucks in my woods. Even a 3.5 year old in my region will have a smaller rack than it should have.
