I agree with the rest that nutrition is the most important influence for full antler growth. Note that I said antler growth. A bucks antlers are only going to get as big as his genes tell it to, but nutriion will allow the antlers to reach their full potential. At the checkin station on opening day for firearms, I saw many 8 point basket racks from deer that were aged by the DNR at 2-1/2 yrs. Then a young kid brought in an absolute brute. It was a 160 class perfect 8 pointer. Everyone there was trying to guess it's age (anywhere from 3-1/2 to 5-1/2 yrs. Everyone was astonished to hear that the deer was 2-1/2yrs. I asked the kid where he got it, and he told me he got it on his farm. He also told me that he has 4 food plots set aside for the deer and that his buck was the third biggest on his farm. That just goes to show what nutrition means to deer and big antlers.