ORIGINAL: bluebird2
Here is a quote from Dr. Kroll regarding his study in Tex.
“All differences go away at age 4, and that is the mature age for a whitetail buck,” Kroll said.
According to the SFA study, almost 48 percent of the 1 1/2 years old, both spikes and fork-antlered bucks, grew to be 130-class deer at 4 1/2. The percentage that became 150-inch-plus deer was also statistically equal.
By the third year, data from our wild-trapped bucks seems to agree more with the results of Dr. Jacobson and the Mississippi State study. Yearling bucks with small antlers seemed to have just as good a chance of turning into a good deer by their third year as the yearlings with larger antlers did
If that were true why did the average rack size of 2.5+ buck in Miss. decrease after just 5 years of ARs. Why does Miss. allow culling of spikes and why did they go to a spread restriction after 12 years of ARs.
just from what i see,avg 6 or 8 point buck is only about 2 years old here in clinton county,wmu2g.
not many make it to 3 yrs old.
iu believe same with doe,oldest is about 3 yrs old most are 1.5 yrs old