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Antler Growth Question

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IowaDave

PMA Member
I did a little searching on the site & dind't find an answer to this, so.....

I first started putting out (and got hooked on) trail cams last fall, about the first of October. Obviously the bucks were fully developed by then.

I set a camera out last week and got quite a few buck pics and was wondering approximately when they stop putting on inches? Do they keep growing right up until they shed their velvet or are they pretty well developed awhile before that?

Would you say that the racks at this time of year are about half of what they'll be when the season starts, or does it vary depending on the animal & conditions?
 
I'll be curious too to read what others have observed, but here is what I think. I think it can vary from deer to deer in terms of how far along they are at a given calendar day. Some deer appear to really sprout up through about mid-July and then not grow very much at all following that and some others appear to grow through August, even early September.

For the most part though I think 95% of the growth is done by about mid-August. I don't know if I would say they are 1/2 grown right now, but I do think that you take a trail cam pic right about now and fairly accurately project where that buck will end up.
 
I agree it varies from deer to deer but I think a bulk of the growth is the last week of June and the first 2 weeks of July. I have seen some whopper racks in mid July and then get pics again in August and didn't notice that much difference. I think you notice growth more in bigger racks from June to August because obviously the more bone they grow the more noticable it is.
 
I haven't noticed much, if any, growth come about mid-august. Seem to be about done by then. They are packing it on right now, that's for sure! There's some facts out there on how much a deer can grow a day and I just remember being impressed.
 
Sligh1 said:
I haven't noticed much, if any, growth come about mid-august. Seem to be about done by then. They are packing it on right now, that's for sure! There's some facts out there on how much a deer can grow a day and I just remember being impressed.
Click to expand...

Yeah they can grow as much as 1/2 inch per day during the time when they are growing the most. Thats crazy fast...
 
I read someplace, that a deer's antler is the second fastest growing cell behind the cancer cell.
 
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