Nub, milos deer was taken in the farmland, while it has some decent sized bluffs in the area it certainily wouldn't be considered a bush buck or bush area by our standards.
The theory has been always tossed out there and I have heard it several times, that deer that live in the bush tend to have narrower/ heavier tines, while bucks that live in the open areas tend to be wider and higher. While this does seem to be the case to a point, it really don't fly with me. I have seen both heavy narrows in the open areas and wider/taller racks in the bush. How could we think a 50" bull moose could live/navigate areas with tight trees, diamond willows & hazel brush but a 20" whitetail could not??? I am of the thinking it is based on genetics, food, water, stress, maturity and so on vs type of terrain. I think most deer live longer in the bush(forest) here due to lack of hunting pressure, less vehicle traffic, etc and we take them at a much older/mature stage - maybe even in the downside of their prime antler growth. Outfitters that hunt these same areas get plenty of wide/tall rack deer on a yearly basis but that is due to them hunting them and taking them in the prime vs post prime of antler growth. Deer in open areas have better food selection,etc and as such may develop racks earlier than those of there heavier cover brothers which still equate to genetics and all the factors mentioned. The colour of the rack is indicative to their enviroment here though, deer living in the open areas tend to be lighter, deer that live in the fringe tend to be dark brown and deer that live in the forest tend to be very dark brown. Some deer show streaks of black via the hazel brush they travel through.
It is interesting stuff and yes the enviroment does play a part but I don't believe it has to due with the amount or density of trees but more about food, stress, age and genetics.
Something I forgot to add is body size of deer in different parts can throw off how wide a deer looks, take for example a Texas whitetail that weighs 150 pounds, he will look extremely wide vs a sask/alta buck who tips the scale closer to 300lbs..even though both rack may measure the same spread. The texas one will always look bigger, just an optical illusion though really. Milos deer is emense no matter what the body size or area, umm maybe that is why he is in the Number 1 position
