This guy is at least 4.5 years old (likely his true age). Per the study, he was trapped in Winter 2013-2014 as an adult deer (at least 1.5), so that puts him at least 4.5 in Fall 2016.
Here is a trailcam picture of him (what a beauty!) in Fall 2014 likely as a 2.5 year old.
Sure isn’t Kansas or Iowa growth, eh? Just pointing out what a mature whitetail looks like to those of us hunting the Appalachian Mountains. I hunt the area and I can vouch that is a smallish but representative mature buck.
It's also an incredible ongoing study with a lot of valuable information on deer movement in relation to the rut and hunting pressure, kudos to my alma mater for carrying it out. http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news
It's believed 15% of all Alaskan moose age 7 or older won't have 50+ inch racks.
Lee
Habitat: PA is a state with a lot of geologic diversity. We have, by Eastern standards, some pretty legit wild mountainous country which many are unaware of, and most of which is public. That is where this particular buck calls home, in the ridge and valley geography. It’s very unique whitetail habitat for sure. The ridges are a series of 500-1000 foot, parallel, long-running sandstone ridges with adjacent broad, fertile limestone valleys. The mountain habitat is indeed very infertile, but the deer get by albeit with moderate to low densities.
The majority of this habitat type is public land, but it’s not hunted especially hard, well, because the hunting subjectively sucks to a lot of people. Most of the slopes are very rocky. There are vast areas of practically impenetrable laurel and rhododendron. Deer no doubt die of old age. There are a lot of oaks which provide abundant mast in good years, but beyond that food can be tough. Mountain laurel, blueberry, and huckleberry largely dominate the understory, with dramatically fewer forbs and herbs than most Eastern woodlands.
Browse is the major limiting habitat factor and is mostly created by cutting, along with far too infrequent burning and the occasional microburst. As with much of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, large swatches of the state are currently stuck with a later-successional forest that lacks the habitat benefits of both intensive management and true old-growth, effectively creating habitat deserts in large areas of big woods. Nonetheless, as you can see the subject deer appears healthy. 2016 was a banner acorn crop and the mountain buck I killed in late October was sporting a generous layer of pre-rut fat.
Genetics: I would assert that the antler size is due more to habitat/soil fertility. But, in my opinion there is a genetically distinct population adapted to the mountain life. I have observed that the deer that live in the mountains are shorter in stature, smaller framed, smaller antlered, and grayer in color. Furthermore the most isolated mountain areas are still within 3-5 miles of agriculture, so the deer could readily migrate down into the more fertile valleys, which indeed some do. I suspect that factor prevents the genetic isolation necessary for the mountain deer to be recognized as a separate subspecies akin to the way Coues' is with much more geographic isolation. On the flip side, it seems that the deer “choose” in some sense to scrape out a tougher life in the mountains, which to me suggests that there are behavioral elements potentially suggesting a separate subspecies.
I posted this to illustrate the vast disparities between antler growth of mature whitetail in different areas. It is my belief that the PY/BC books to a large degree influence and homogenize the horn porn whitetail hunting culture to the point of marginalizing and disrespecting more unique quality hunting experiences for mature animals. Locally the hunting culture certainly recognizes this to some degree, but it is worth mentioning in a broader realm. To me these cool little mountain bucks are a blast to hunt and the experiences of hunting them in the mountains far outweigh the superior inches of antler on deer I’ve hunted in agricultural regions.
