Originally Posted by
jnrbronc
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?
That statement was provided to me as a fact. I should have noted that it is describing a very EXTREME example of what CAN happen. This situation rarely happens in the wild, but the research proved that is CAN happen. In regards to how would a buck reach trophy status...note that I said his antlers will definitely get bigger, its just that he won't reach his genetic potential (ex: a buck is 120" at maturity, when he may have been 140" had he not been stressed, thats just a hypothetical example). And lastly, shooting everything over 1.5 would be the worst thing to do because the yearlings would experience more stress without the older bucks around to shield them from it...look further down for a continuation.
Well, this statement is exactly opposite of what was offered earlier. Which is it?
I'm not sure which statement you are refferring to from earlier. This is a factual statement backed up by reasearch...."The presence of a mature buck will reduce the testosterone levels of immature bucks in the herd." Please show me the other statement that made you belive I was contradicting myself. What this suggests is that having mature bucks in a herd has health benefits for immature bucks in that herd, because they have lower testosterone outputs, and participate less in breeding activity....These health benefits translate to increased antler growth down the road.