We didn't know if there was a reason for why they're still hanging on and wanted to find out what the story might be. Their antlers were really big. Since then, I've talked to other people who've seen deer still carrying their antlers in this area,'' said Fields. Jamie Cox of Paradise also reported seeing bucks last week with antlers, several with pretty nice antlers. Biologist Curtis Taylor says abundant wild foods play a role in antler development, and in antlers hanging on longer than normal.
Nutrition does play a key role.
Nonetheless, those bucks make up only a small percentage of the overall male deer that survived hunting season. Taylor said that probably 95 percent of all bucks have shed their racks. Bucks with big antlers that haven't dropped off yet should be losing them very soon. No matter what kind of physical condition a deer was in, the weight of heavy antlers should have them falling off any time now,'' said Taylor. The winter of 2000-01 also had unusual impacts on other wildlife species.