Steelbanger wrote:How much do you think a buck with that great rack weighs in Texas?
Is there every a simple answer from Ranch Dog?
We take all the statistics here because I am a managed land. You ready for this, he only weighed 108# on the hoof and 82# field dressed! Thirty days ago he would have weighed about 130# and sixty days ago he would have weighed 155#. He has been living life on the hoof for two months, taking very little time to eat or sleep. The weights recorded today fit right into the statistical data recorded for our ranch; at the end of the third rut period a mature buck deer has lost 33% to 35% of his weight. During the second rut period in November, they are down approximately 15%. Also remember that I live in a desert and desert critter have less body mass so they can face the heat of the summer.
We are in our third cycle of the rut and these deer are really beat down at this point. Another day or two and I would not have seen this deer till late next summer. About 90% of the available does are bred in the middle period in November with an even 5% early and 5% late on a 28 day cycle. They are very consistent from year to year. What varies is whether you see the activity due to environmental and climatic activity. Mother Nature times these events as to what will happen 200 days after the peak cycle period (November), our Spring rains have fallen and there is great weed and flower cover to protect the fawns. Those born out of the first and last rut cycle have difficulties finding optimum cover for survival during their first three weeks on the ground. Here are our rut dates, these are established via fetus measurements taken from every doe we harvest.
