Brow Tines

[Wanderer]

Does anyone out there have an idea about why some deer just don't have brow tines? Is this strictly  genetics? Can a deer have a forked rack one year without brow tines and then have a rack with brow tines a year or two later? We seem to have a lot of deer on our Alabama lease without brow tines. A few of them have small "humps" in the area where the brow tines should be but they're not large enough to be called a point. Would poor food quality cause this? Attached is a picture of a 15 year old who hunted as a guest at our club back in 2003. The buck he shot is an example of what I'm talking about on our lease. Eighteen inch inside spread but just "humps" off the main beam.

[tnt1960]

I would have to say that it`s genetics. You said that a lot of deer don`t have brow tines, so as they keep breeding year after year, they are passing on the gene to the next generation of having no brow tines. That`s why I would have to say that it`s genetics.

[JPH]

I also suspect genetics. If the deer are otherwise healthy and have normal width and mass for your area then I cannot see how nutrition or stress can be blamed.

Can a deer have forks one year and develop brow tines later? I would say yes. From what I have seen, deer begin to grow mass, sticker points and increase in brow tine length after 3 years.

The biggest thing that I would NOT do, from a QDM standpoint, is try to cull these deer from your herd as yearlings or 2.5's. My advice, if it is a concern for you, is to give them 3 years.

[PrairieShadow]

I also would say genetics is the key here. The genetics in one of my hunting areas are split g2's. as 2.5's they have about a 1.5" sticker off of their g2;s and by 4.5 they have full blown splits.
 
another area i hunt is notorious for split brows.
 
I have always contributed this to genetics since it differs from one area i hunt to the next.

[buckhunter21]

I would def. say genetics...You'll see a lot of different rack formations in deer.  Maybe not all genetics...but mixed with a combination of where they live, eat, etc.

[schlupis]

I would have to say genetics I have a buddy who killed a 3.5 year old buck that field dressed 176 lbs in dec with a 21 in inside spread and 8 inch tines but the brow tines barley made 2 inches.. So we know the nutrition was there for him to grow big he just didnt have the brow tines... This same guys dad that same year that killed a 4.5 yr old buck 7 point that just had bumps and this deer field dressed 190 lbs  and had plenty of mass, during the gun season... I killed a 3.5 year old buck on the same property the next year only about 40 acres away from where my buddy killed his 21 inch wide buck that field dressed 215 lbs had 8 inch tines and one of the brow tines was 7.5 and the other was 6.5.. So my personal opinion is it has to do with genetics not nutrition... These deer were all pictured on the same plots eating the same foods...