[quote]
Originally Posted by
bluebird2
How is the age of a deer and indicator of stress? What age would be an indicator of stress?
Age could be an indicator of stess when combined with other characteristics (ex: antler growth, body condition, etc). Of course no specific age would automatically be an indicator of stress.
How would the PGC collect enough data on antler casting to use it as an indicator of stress?
I doubt they could. I said "I" would use this as an indicator, not the pgc.
When does a healthy buck that is not stressed cast his antlers?
You have to account for some individual variation here. However, they will typically shed around the last week of jan or first week of feb, in my experience. Interestingly, individual bucks have been known to shed their antlers on the same day, or very close to the same day in successive years. Therefore, when you see a wide gap between the dates of shedding for an individual buck one year to the next, it is either the result of stress, or the factor listed below.
How would you account for other factors that that may influence antler casting?
The only other documented factor that can cause a buck to shed his antlers early that I am aware of is a widespread mast failure, in an area dependent upon mast.
What B/D ratio produces the least stress?
It's not fair to isolate one factor and ask this question, even if I gave an answer it could be misleading. I believe the cumulative affect of stress will be less in areas with a low deer density, balanced b/d ratio, and balanced buck age structure, than in a herd with too many deer, skewed sex ratio, and unbalanced buck age structure. As far as pulling out one factor and assigning it to a least/most scale, I think that would be misleading.
How would you attain that ratio statewide?
As you've indicated our b/d ratio isn't all that bad, and never really has been.
Does reduced testosterone levels in 1.5 buck indicate increased or decreased stress levels?
I'm not sure whether or not this has been shown scientifically. If I had to hypothesize, I would say decrease.
How much fat should an unstressed buck have compared to a stressed buck and how would you measure it?
Ummm, more? Hah good question, not totally sure, do you have any ideas?
What level of significance would you assign to each factor?
If we're talking about the factors that cause stress I would say hands down deer density. If we're talking about factors that tell us whether or not a deer is stressed I would say probably a combination of the date of antler casting (if you know when he shed them years prior), and overall physical condition.