The Rut

   If all those stresses aren’t enough, bucks receive another dose of pressure when the rut begins.  If you add the fierce competitive waged between bucks to the list of stress factors they endure the rest of the year, it’s easy to determine why free-ranging bucks have difficulty reaching their antler potential.

On good range, bucks are rolling in fat when the chase phase of the rut begins.  However, during a two-week period just before full-blown breeding, bucks begin to move constantly, searching for estrous does.  This non-stop dash to ensure survival of the species involves everything from chasing to scrape making and from rubbing to fighting.

   Bucks not only expend a lot of energy during the rut, they often do so at the expense of eating.  With these things in mind, it’s easy to understand what kind of stress the rut brings to the white-tailed bucks’ world.

Predation

   Predation is another stress factor that affects growth potential.  Dogs, coyotes, wolves and humans kill hundreds of thousands of deer each year.  However, non-contact predation also affects deer.

   Non-contact predation includes the mere presence of predators.  This stress can cause bucks to grow underdeveloped antlers.  Several projects conducted by Aaron Moen of Cornell University illustrate this point.

   In one project, Moen studied the effects of disturbance by snowmobiles on heart rates of captive deer.  He also studied the heart rates of fawns in response to wolf howls.

   The average heart rate of a white-tailed deer varies in different settings.  A bedded deer has a heart rate of about 72 beats per minute.  Other rates include standing, 86 beats per minute; walking, 102 beats per minute; and running, 155 beats per minute.

   In the fawn study, Moen found that wolf howls increased a deer’s heart rate to as much as 265 beats per minute.  In the snowmobile study, heart rates were as high as 209 beats per minute.

   Although it hasn’t been documented, hunting pressure certainly has a similar effect on whitetails.  Stress on deer can be great in areas with long seasons and high numbers of hunters. 

   What does this research prove?  Well, an increased heart rate increases metabolism, which depletes fat reserves.  The bottom line is any form of predation places some stress on whitetails, which can prevent them from reaching their growth potential. 

Lessons Behind Fences

   By reducing stress associated with the six factors listed above, you can improve the odds of watching a buck fawn grow into a B&C-class whitetail.

   Some people might argue that it’s impossible to reduce some of the stress factors because of the region they live in.  However, today’s high-tech age makes those unthinkable goals reality.  The answer lies in controlled environments.

   Many deer breeders have experimental and discovered what it takes to raise trophy-class bucks.  Of course, their work is done behind high fences, where deer are raised in relatively stress-free conditions.

   To produce big bucks, most breeders become students of genetics and they meticulously study individual deer for desired characteristics.

   “After genetics I look at a host of factors that I have to build on to get full antler potential,” Morgan said.  “I see habitat as critical.  If a buck’s environment is not right – it doesn’t matter what kind of genetics he has – he will not reach his full potential.  So this means controlling and improving everything from natural settings to a balanced diet to eliminating the number of other deer he can interact with to allowing no dogs near the buck.

   “I’ve been in this game long enough to know that if I can’t provide a top breeder buck with the best of conditions, I can’t expect him to grow the kind of antlers I think he’s capable of,” Morgan added.

   The Griffith brothers employ a similar approach.  They use elaborate breeding and handling facilities to keep their top-end bucks calm and comfortable.  By catering to a

bucks every need and purging stress from the animal’s life, the Griffiths produce record-class bucks.

To further reduce stress on their deer, the Griffiths prevent bucks from breeding too many does.  For example, their top breeder buck, Goliath, was allowed to breed just five does in 1998.  Combined with the stress-free environment, the buck grew a 250-inch non-typical rack.

   “To reach optimum antler growth, every white-tailed buck needs to go into a new antler-growing season with a full tank, so to speak,” Dave Griffith said.  “Think of it this way:  A whitetail’s bone marrow system is like a fuel tank.  If their bone marrow and body condition are not full and in top condition when the sun says, ‘Start growing antlers!’ they can’t possibly reach their full antler potential.  So, body maintenance is critical when it comes to antler growth.  Removing stress helps achieve the results we’re looking for.”

 Realistic Expectations

   Despite the fact huge bucks like Goliath are grown in controlled environments, there’s no question much can be learned from these deer.  Knowing their full potential puts many other things in perspective.

   For example, when analyzing various regions for antler potential, I look at how an area stacks up against the six stress factors.  If an area is affected by all six, there is strong reason to believe top-end potential won’t exist.  However, if an area is affected by only two factors, I want to hunt there because I know the area probably holds many big bucks.

   That’s not to say I’m a trophy hunter.  In fact, I believe many hunters put too much emphasis on the magic antler score of 170 – the minimum score for entry into Boone and Crockett’s record book for typical white-tailed bucks.

   I believe it’s unrealistic for hunters to believe they actually stand a chance of killing a buck that big in the wild.  I have chased whitetails more than 30 years, and only once have I killed a buck that grossed more than 170 points on the B&C scoring system.  In other words, a 170-class wild buck is a freak of nature.

   When hunters ask me what kinds of bucks they can expect to see in places like western Canada and Texas, I tell them not to base their goals on what they read in magazines or see on television.

   Be realistic and try to find out what the average size is for bucks in a given area.  I believe a realistic expectation for hunts in the best deer habitat in North America is 140 B&C.  The bottom line is this: Considering all the stress factors that weigh on a deer herd, it’s difficult to find 150-inch bucks in the wild.  In many places, few, if any, exist.

   In fact, research tells us that the 140- and 150-inch bucks living in Saskatchewan, Wisconsin and New York could easily be 160- to 170-inch bucks if they lived in controlled environments.  Furthermore, most deer researchers will tell you that heavy stress, be it drought, predators, severe winters or environmental factors, can suppress antler growth by as much as 20 percent.

 Conclusion

   There’s a whole lot more to getting a white-tailed buck from button to B&C antlers than meets the eye.  In fact, for most bucks roaming North America, it’s an impossible or, at best, nearly impossible mission.

   Future hunters probably will kill huge bucks that rival the B&C whitetails killed by Milo Hanson and James Jordan.  These awesome bucks are a part of the mystery of life, just like 7-foot basketball players and home-run hitters like Mark McGwire.  However, is it realistic to think the road from buttons to B&C is a given?  Not hardly. For my money, 140 inches is about as good as it gets, even in the better fair-chase areas.

   Stress comes in myriad forms, and one thing is certain: It hurts the hat size of every buck in the wild.  

(Actual article/pages published in the August 1999 Issue of Deer & Deer Hunter Magazine)
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