Good stuff. It was a bit sad at first seeing it at 12.5 years old but then I thought most deer never even get close to that age. It lived a long life.
That was really cool & interesting, although a bit sad how he drastically lost weight his final year.
That deer isn't necessarily representative of every deer either though. Some will boom out big antlers their second year and hardly ever gain any inches while others can be small 3.5 year olds but make a big jump in years 4 and 5. I love this article but it's good to keep in mind that this one case doesn't necessarily set (or represent) any standards in antler growth.
I dont believe that is what you get from this.Only that it is possible for spikes to go big. Loved the story.
Great article. Years ago, I went with my dad to a presentation that Charles Alsheimer gave, and he showed images of that buck up through three years. His point then, as now, is that a spike might have the potential to grow a huge set of antlers. The old mentality that young spikes need to be taken out turned out to be a myth. It was eye opening, to say the least. I never forgot those pictures.
You need to go through the thread and read the posts prior to mine to get some context to my post. I was directing my post more towards comments in this thread than at that story. That article has been posted on the forum before and we had a lot of discussion about it before. Yes, the only definite point (conclusion) to the study is that the old tale of once a spike always a spike is BS. (or any other variation of that saying)
This Buck was studied by Charlie Alshiemer from Deer and Deer hunting magazine. Have to keep in mind that this Buck was tracked from the Adirondacks of Upstate NY. A buck to reach this caliber from up there as truly amazing. I still have the DVD from when he profiled the life of this buck. He ended dying of liver cancer at 12 1/2 after an autopsy. It comes to show when a buck reaches 4 1/2 years old it is tough to age him from that and beyond by just looking at him. Besides the obvious decline in age its tough to age. Cementum annuli aging is a nice tool to confirm a deers age.
That 12.5 year photo is sad. That deer was a beast. I can't believe he retained as much rack as he did up till he was 11.5.
