glew i for one found this to be a very interesting read. it is a very interesting point that i had never put much thought into.
when a buck grows his antlers each year he is robbing nutrients that would typically go into his body, which instead get absorbed into shaping his rack. nutrients that a well stressed buck desperately needs are being robbed by his antler development, so perhaps his body can somehow detect that the nutrients are more suited to not be "wasted" in antler development?
i believe stress plays a VERY big roll into the overall health of animals. It would be cool to know how much extra stress a mature buck undergoes as compared to an immature buck if any at all.
as far as hunting pressure i dont buy it, a 1.5 year old buck has no more pressure in an area then a 4.5 year old, if anything i would think the younger buck would be more pressured from my personal experience, as they are not as aware of what is going on and will be bumped and disturbed more than an older buck who has been there and knows its safety spots which allowed him to survive previous hunting seasons. lets face it if 4.5 year old bucks dont go strolling around the woods like 1.5 year olds ive seen countless 1.5 year old bucks while hunting and few 4.5 year olds, not that they aren’t there just that they go nocturnal and dont slip up typically until the rut kicks in. i dont think too many people would argue that they see more young bucks then mature bucks
however once the rut comes around its a different ball game. mature bucks get up and get moving. multiple times ive witness when a doe comes into heat a mature buck will be hot at foot. and i mean hot at foot, he wont leave her side she moves, he moves, when she feeds he stands there and watches or try’s to resume chase on her. and while all this is going on other bucks will be in the area due to the scent of doe in heat but they are not trailing her, they are keeping their distance from the mature buck and laying down or feeding hoping that he will lose her and they can take up chase. does this happen all the time? im not sure but from my experience ive always witness mature bucks expelling much more energy chasing doe.
also this may not be true in all cases but it seems from my experience once again that mature bucks cover more territory in search of a doe. where immature bucks will cover less territory.
a mature buck also has to hold his title as the dominate animal, mature bucks have been known to endure great amounts of energy in fighting, energy that they dont have the luxury to loose in this crucial time of year.
im not saying a mature buck will breed every doe that comes into heat, or that they will breed more then another buck, but i dont have a hard time at all believing that they do indeed exude more energy during the rut then immature bucks which could indeed lead to a loss in antler growth in comparison to other bucks... I would say I agree with glew’s research many times a buck with the most inches of antler in an area isn’t the dominate buck…just my .02 cents