White-tailed deer do not complete skeletal growth until about 3 years of age. Substantial increases in antler size (and score) can be observed as a buck goes from 1 to 5 or 6 years of age. Antler growth in bucks generally increases annually as a buck ages, gets older. Fortunately, they grow them back annually. Whitetail bucks drop or shed their antlers during the late winter and early spring. It all happens relatively fast! Antler Growth Photos by Month Take a look at these stages of antler growth. So how long does it take for a buck to form hardened antlers? The following photos illustrate antler growth for a single white-tailed buck in Texas (in a research facility) from March through September. In most cases, typical deer antlers begin growing out a buck’s head in a backward motion then quickly change direction and sweep forward as we commonly know. Buck antler development ceases by August or early September. White-tailed deer antler growth usually begins during the month of March or April. Older bucks typically shed & start growth first.Stress (physical) from prior breeding season.Key factors of annual buck antler growth in whitetail include: More importantly, it keeps their all-important headgear intact. This technique allows groups of bachelor bucks to sort things out, so to speak. As a result, disputes between bucks at this time are handled by bucks standing on their hind legs and swinging their front legs in the same manner than doe deer use to fight and establish dominance. However, this is still the time when most deer antler damage occurs. Bucks are not aggressive towards each other during the antler growing period. A buck’s antlers are both extremely delicate and sensitive to the touch during antler development. Let’s look at some factors that effect deer antler growth.Īctively growing antlers are covered with a living tissue called velvet because it really looks and feels like velvet fabric. They grow as much as 1/2-inch per day during peak antler growth! Of course, the amount of antler material a buck grows depends upon nutrition, genetics, and age. Antler growth in deer really is phenomenal! In fact, deer antlers are among the fastest growing tissues in the animal kingdom.
0 kommentar(er)
