Enough moisture?

[1uofacat]

Here in Williams today, it's supposed to snow up to 10 inches between now and Saturday.  While it'll likely be less than that, every little bit helps.  I was out in unit 8 over the past weekend and while the tanks are very low, there is at least some water in many of them now.  Also, the ground is quite saturated below the pine needles, so at least it's not "dry" yet.    

 

That said, it's still not a lot of moisture this year for great antler growth.  So if you're of the mindset that you need a great bull, you may want to cancel your CCs tonight to save your bonus points as well as not wasting the $150 on the tag you're probably turning back in anyway (assuming you bought the insurance)!  😁

[Alpinebullwinkle]

I believe we have had maybe 3' of snow maximum this winter in Alpine. The last two winters we had about 5'........... but still about four more weeks remaining  to get some more winter precipitation. Easter weekend is usually our last winter storm. I consider 5' of snow only an average winter for Alpine. About 10 years ago we had maybe our best year in my experience logging over 13'. 

[PRDATR]

On 3/10/2021 at 4:10 PM, 1uofacat said:

Here in Williams today, it's supposed to snow up to 10 inches between now and Saturday.  While it'll likely be less than that, every little bit helps.  I was out in unit 8 over the past weekend and while the tanks are very low, there is at least some water in many of them now.  Also, the ground is quite saturated below the pine needles, so at least it's not "dry" yet.    

 

That said, it's still not a lot of moisture this year for great antler growth.  So if you're of the mindset that you need a great bull, you may want to cancel your CCs tonight to save your bonus points as well as not wasting the $150 on the tag you're probably turning back in anyway (assuming you bought the insurance)!  😁

Moisture is great for body weight but isn't then end all that people think it is for antler growth. That's genetics.

[trphyhntr]

Just now, PRDATR said:

Moisture is great for body weight but isn't then end all that people think it is for antler growth. That's genetics.

Take the greatest athlete on earth and don’t feed him. Won’t reach full potential. 

[WHT_MTNMAN]

27 minutes ago, trphyhntr said:

Take the greatest athlete on earth and don’t feed him. Won’t reach full potential. 

yep I agree to some extent but have you hunted 23s? Genetics and age class are significantly more important that people think. 

[WHT_MTNMAN]

If you have ever been around the cattle business you will know that grazing animals can put on a lot of weight and use all available feed to maximize the potential. 

It looks like this year there will not be any feed to use. I figured it could be a bad year holding some hope for some late winter spring rains but I'm losing all optimism. 

[GreyGhost85]

34 minutes ago, PRDATR said:

Moisture is great for body weight but isn't then end all that people think it is for antler growth. That's genetics.

Put down the pipe or smoke it

[trphyhntr]

7 minutes ago, WHT_MTNMAN said:

yep I agree to some extent but have you hunted 23s? Genetics and age class are significantly more important that people think. 

Who doesn’t think that genetics and age class are important? 

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Just now, trphyhntr said:

Who doesn’t think that genetics and age class are important? 

Your quote of PRDTR and statement had me question if you didnt

 

[trphyhntr]

10 minutes ago, WHT_MTNMAN said:

Your quote of PRDTR and statement had me question if you didnt

 

I didn’t say anything negating age or genetics. But I’d like to hear how an under fed old and supreme genetics bull could be bigger than if it was well fed. Just seems illogical, but I’m not an expert you know more about elk than I ever will 

[WHT_MTNMAN]

4 minutes ago, trphyhntr said:

I didn’t say anything negating age or genetics. But I’d like to hear how an under fed old and supreme genetics bull could be bigger than if it was well fed. Just seems illogical, but I’m not an expert you know more about elk than I ever will 

lol i never said that either, you want to put words in my mouth. I completely agree with your statement it just made me wonder. 

[trphyhntr]

2 minutes ago, WHT_MTNMAN said:

lol i never said that either, you want to put words in my mouth. I completely agree with your statement it just made me wonder. 

And your response made wonder because  I only said 

“Take the greatest athlete on earth and don’t feed him. Won’t reach full potential”

Do supreme genetic old age class bulls  reach full potential with poor feed? Seems illogical to me 

 

[bigorange]

I think the point is that moisture, feed, genetics, age, and maybe even some luck all play factors...a poor moisture year isn’t helping but I’m still hunting if I draw a tag!

[trphyhntr]

I don’t have it in front of me but if remember right, in the book the golden age of elk hunting it states 1999 was a severe drought year, there wasn’t a single book bull killed on the WMAT. 

[GreyGhost85]

Genetics do make big bulls but without food and water they can’t grow big antlers. When a bull that has 380" genetics goes from 360 to 310 to 380, is it genetics that makes him only go 310 in that particular year? If so, i’m still waiting on that year where my genetics make me go from 240lbs to 210lbs without any change in diet.