i dont think its a big leap at all to say that. if a bucks health from breeding related stress decreases in the fall and winter they have to put all their nutrition into rebuilding their body and getting it back to full health before putting the energy and nutrients into their antler growth. also since winter is the toughest time of the year for deer in terms of finding food in many places this isnt the best time to have their bodies in bad shape. if there are no food sources available in the winter they can easily die from lack of food and nutrition, as i have seen in my area several times.

This is also where a proper buck to doe ratio comes into play, as well as a low deer density so that any deer that needs to rebuild their body has the ability to find food to do so. My area of PA is over populated with deer and the browse line in the woods is at head height. There is no browse for the deer this time of the year and with icy conditions occuring often it is hard for them to dig up the food that they need. Many people feed them corn in the winter, but when a deers natural diet is acorns and browse, corn does not do much to help them unless it is supplied year round as a supplimental food source.

Due to these factors, many deer are still recovering from the rut well into spring when antler growth is occuring. And also antler growth doesnt begin in june, it occurs as soon as their antlers fall off so it really isnt that long from the end of the rut to the beginning of antler growth. With a mast crop like we had this year in PA, deer were able to bulk up in fat which greatly helped them stay healthy through the rut and the winter. I have not seen many deer in poor physical condition this year, but i could certainly not say that in past years.