Mississippi State University is undertaking a 5 to 10 year study to determine if antler size in young bucks indicates their future size as mature deer.....While this tends to be the case in enclosed test lots where Deer are artificially fed, this is the first study to see if this holds true in the wild

Mississippi State University undertakes multiyear study tracks tagged deer

STARKVILLE, Miss. —

The study will be done in Lowndes County on the 40,000-acre Tombigbee Cooperative, which covers areas around the Tombigbee River and beyond. MSU scientists are collaborating with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

The study began in January 2011 and will last five to 10 years. For the first five years, scientists will use nets and boxes to capture and tag the male, white-tailed deer.

"We have studied yearling antler development and found it to be an indicator of antler development in older ages," said Steve Demarais, an MSU wildlife biologist. "However, our studies are generally confined to research pens, where deer have unlimited access to protein pellets."

Demarais said understanding antler development under field conditions helps provide a scientific basis for setting regulations, especially related to antler restrictions and hunting rates for younger bucks.

Demarais said trail cameras will be set up each fall by landowners and hunters in the Tombigbee Cooperative to photograph deer. Wildlife professor Bronson Strickland said the photographs will help determine the antler growth rate of known-aged deer in the wild.

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