I wonder?
12-12-2008, 08:44 AM
#11
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Heaven is my home, temporarily residing in WNY :)
Posts: 6,679
RE: I wonder?
ORIGINAL: early in
Yes, I believe you're right. That's why animals are much larger north of the equator. I think it's called Burgman's theory/law? Something like that anyway. That's why Canadian whitetails are so much larger than in the states.
ORIGINAL: wahoohunter
I believe it, isn't that how evolution works...Animals grow into and adapt to the area they live?
I believe it, isn't that how evolution works...Animals grow into and adapt to the area they live?
12-12-2008, 08:49 AM
#12
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: The OH-IO
Posts: 7,103
RE: I wonder?
CRP and the sun all day = white antlers?
Swamp and less sun = overall darker antlers?
Swamp and less sun = overall darker antlers?
12-12-2008, 08:50 AM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: charlottesville, virginia
Posts: 1,732
RE: I wonder?
ORIGINAL: PreacherTony
Adaptation .... not evolutuon
ORIGINAL: early in
Yes, I believe you're right. That's why animals are much larger north of the equator. I think it's called Burgman's theory/law? Something like that anyway. That's why Canadian whitetails are so much larger than in the states.
ORIGINAL: wahoohunter
I believe it, isn't that how evolution works...Animals grow into and adapt to the area they live?
I believe it, isn't that how evolution works...Animals grow into and adapt to the area they live?
12-12-2008, 08:51 AM
#14
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Heaven is my home, temporarily residing in WNY :)
Posts: 6,679
RE: I wonder?
ORIGINAL: wahoohunter
haha, they could be used as synonym's I believe in this case
ORIGINAL: PreacherTony
Adaptation .... not evolutuon
ORIGINAL: early in
Yes, I believe you're right. That's why animals are much larger north of the equator. I think it's called Burgman's theory/law? Something like that anyway. That's why Canadian whitetails are so much larger than in the states.
ORIGINAL: wahoohunter
I believe it, isn't that how evolution works...Animals grow into and adapt to the area they live?
I believe it, isn't that how evolution works...Animals grow into and adapt to the area they live?
12-12-2008, 09:06 AM
#15
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Oct 1998
Location: Hughesville, PA USA
Posts: 18,322
RE: I wonder?
Found this.
The debate about Antler Color goes on This has been kind of a debate for as long as I can remember. The color of antler’s, why are some dark and why are some light?
Antler color
Written by Bill Miller
Any hunter no doubt would agree that no two bucks are the same, and the color of their antlers add to their diversity.
Yet camp fire debates swirl over why some antlers are lighter, or darker, than others.
Does it have to do with deer nutrition, or the actual density of the antlers? Maybe it’s both, according to some whitetail deer experts in Texas.
They’re quick to note, however, that nobody seems to know for sure, at least for now.
“Of all the things that you could potentially study, this is not high on the list,†said Dr. David Hewitt of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
But antler density – or lack of it – seems to make the most sense to Hewitt, who chairs the whitetail deer research program at the institute.
Other experts agree. “I’ve always been interested in that,†said Dr. Dale Rollins, a Texas Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist in San Angelo. “It could be that the softer, more porous antler soaks up more stain.â€
And blood is likely the ultimate staining agent that thoroughly covers antlers when bucks rub out of their velvet.
Larry Weishuhn, whitetail deer expert from Uvalde, has noted that tree sap also stains antlers during the rubs.
Weishuhn, an author and television show host, offered his comments in an online chat on the Web site for the Los Cazadores deer contest.
He added that a buck on a really good diet will produce very dense antlers that resist staining.
Rollins noted that dense antlers polish up nicely in the rubbing and they can appear almost marble white.
He recalled how he began exploring this mystery in the late 1980s.
“There was a real rash of broken antlers in the Concho Valley and around Sterling City in particular,†he said. “I had a student look at it, and in the course of that, we’d take core samples out of antlers.
“Well, on the very dark antlers it was like sticking a hot knife through butter.â€
Additional tests on density, however, distracted from the main research on the broken antlers.
So the density theory and other issues related to antler colors were never fully explored.
And as far as Rollins and Hewitt can recall, no researchers have ever done that.
Rollins agreed with Hewitt that the color of antlers is not a pressing health issue for deer, so it doesn’t impress organizations that award research funds.
He added, however, that the causes of antler density could become part of a larger project that addresses human bone density and osteoporosis.
Don’t laugh.
According to Hewitt, there have been numerous medical studies for humans that have looked at deer antlers.
“Antlers grow so fast, I’ve heard them compared to tumors,†he said. “So, yes, there are potential ties to human medicine.â€
Meanwhile, until the issue is put to rest, deer camps throughout Texas have retained a debate topic.
The debate about Antler Color goes on This has been kind of a debate for as long as I can remember. The color of antler’s, why are some dark and why are some light?
Antler color
Written by Bill Miller
Any hunter no doubt would agree that no two bucks are the same, and the color of their antlers add to their diversity.
Yet camp fire debates swirl over why some antlers are lighter, or darker, than others.
Does it have to do with deer nutrition, or the actual density of the antlers? Maybe it’s both, according to some whitetail deer experts in Texas.
They’re quick to note, however, that nobody seems to know for sure, at least for now.
“Of all the things that you could potentially study, this is not high on the list,†said Dr. David Hewitt of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
But antler density – or lack of it – seems to make the most sense to Hewitt, who chairs the whitetail deer research program at the institute.
Other experts agree. “I’ve always been interested in that,†said Dr. Dale Rollins, a Texas Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist in San Angelo. “It could be that the softer, more porous antler soaks up more stain.â€
And blood is likely the ultimate staining agent that thoroughly covers antlers when bucks rub out of their velvet.
Larry Weishuhn, whitetail deer expert from Uvalde, has noted that tree sap also stains antlers during the rubs.
Weishuhn, an author and television show host, offered his comments in an online chat on the Web site for the Los Cazadores deer contest.
He added that a buck on a really good diet will produce very dense antlers that resist staining.
Rollins noted that dense antlers polish up nicely in the rubbing and they can appear almost marble white.
He recalled how he began exploring this mystery in the late 1980s.
“There was a real rash of broken antlers in the Concho Valley and around Sterling City in particular,†he said. “I had a student look at it, and in the course of that, we’d take core samples out of antlers.
“Well, on the very dark antlers it was like sticking a hot knife through butter.â€
Additional tests on density, however, distracted from the main research on the broken antlers.
So the density theory and other issues related to antler colors were never fully explored.
And as far as Rollins and Hewitt can recall, no researchers have ever done that.
Rollins agreed with Hewitt that the color of antlers is not a pressing health issue for deer, so it doesn’t impress organizations that award research funds.
He added, however, that the causes of antler density could become part of a larger project that addresses human bone density and osteoporosis.
Don’t laugh.
According to Hewitt, there have been numerous medical studies for humans that have looked at deer antlers.
“Antlers grow so fast, I’ve heard them compared to tumors,†he said. “So, yes, there are potential ties to human medicine.â€
Meanwhile, until the issue is put to rest, deer camps throughout Texas have retained a debate topic.
12-12-2008, 09:44 AM
#17
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 123
RE: I wonder?
The older gentleman that I talked to said that many years ago 40+ that lighting caught the woods on fire and they burnt the forest down.
And in the years following the deer in the areas antlers seemed to grow wider because of no underbrush.
He has some racks to show.
But I suppose it could have been luck of the draw on the bucks he shot.
And in the years following the deer in the areas antlers seemed to grow wider because of no underbrush.
He has some racks to show.
But I suppose it could have been luck of the draw on the bucks he shot.
12-12-2008, 09:49 AM
#18
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Cenral Illinois
Posts: 3,180
RE: I wonder?
No offense to your buddy, but that's a little out there for me. So the racks "know" they aren't going to run into anything? Seems like a stretch. Aquired characteristics are not something that can be passed on. Either they are born wide, or born narrow, they aren't going to change back and forth based on surroundings. If a woman has a baby, and the woman's arm is broken, the baby is not born with a broken arm too. Genetics for the area determine the rack characteristics. DropTine is right on for Texas, some of the widest deer in the country come from there, and its got the nastiest brush around.
