Originally Posted by
glew22
I’ll leave you with a few facts that have been put forth to me by reputable biologists: a yearling buck can experience enough breeding stress during his first rut that he will never recover antler wise (not suggesting his antlers don’t get bigger, just that his growth potential was limited by the stress he experienced that first year).
I'm not buying this! This theory says that all young bucks will never develop into their potential due to "stress memory". Think about it, all young bucks are subordinate in one way or another in a herd environment. If this "theory" holds, how would any buck every achieve trophy status? So the solution, according to this theory, is to shoot everything over 1.5 yrs?
Just the presence of a mature buck can reduce the testosterone output of immature bucks (forcing them to do what they should as immature animals, build their bodies). In essence, the presence alone of a mature buck will shield immature bucks from experiencing significant amounts of stress, thus allowing them to reach their genetic potential.
Well, this statement is exactly opposite of what was offered earlier. Which is it?
My experience leads me to believe that dominant bucks establish a territory and lesser bucks go to surrounding areas where they try to establish dominance, thus avoiding continual hierarchical battles.
Then again, I'm not a "wildlife biologist".