Little Thunder is finally sleeping outside, having been born in October he is just getting his summer coat, but he has enough of a coat to give him a little protection from the cold now. That along with the very mild temperatures and he has spent the last couple nights outside. We have a couple shelters that we put hay down in and he seems to like them. He curls up in a little ball and little Bella usually is close by for him. those two hang out together a lot. Today Thunder was laying in one of the shelters we call the tent and Bella was walking and eating just outside the tent. When one of Thunders other friends came to see him. Bella would have none of it. she stood guard outside the tent and when Ice would approach Bella would chase her away. Its a shame really because Ice and Thunder do get along real well too, but not Bella and Ice so much. Any way Since thunder was born so late and is so out of sync with the normal development cycle of a deer his age. We are wondering how this will affect the development of his antlers. Thunders pedicles have been growing quite fast this last month. From nothing to some very pronounced bumps. Now Aslan had actually started growing antlers in the fall last year then then shed his buttons at the end of January. He didn't really start growing new antlers until probably May. Not that they weren't growing after he shed his buttons but they were not growing that fast. Then Aslan grew 10 points by August. He is not a record breaker but not a bad set of antlers for a 1 year old. So here we are near the end of February and it looks like Thunders pedicles could break through his skin very soon. He would then start growing his first set of antlers. Since he would have all summer to grow them he actually could be a spike buck by fall instead of just the buttons. So that is something I am watching for with him. The we also have Aslan. As I said last year Aslan lost his buttons on January 28th. And again we are now at the end of February and Aslan is still sporting his nice 10 point rack. Deer in captivity with good nutrition will usually shed their antlers a little later. Since Aslan was right on schedule last year I kind of expected him to repeat that this year, but by now I realize that is not going to happen and he will probably keep his antlers for a few more weeks yet. Here are the things I am going to be watching for from Aslan this year. First it will be interesting to see how much later he does shed those antlers this year. Then I am anxious to see what he grows for antlers this year. 10 points for a 1 year old is very good however, its no record and I am sure neither would be his Boone and Crockett score if he actually had one. Farm raised genetically selected deer can score over 200 inches their first year. The other problem I see with Aslan is his spread. High scoring typical deer will have a wide spread on the tips of the antlers. Aslan's tip to tip spread is about 1 inch. If they grew any longer they would have been touching. So I am really looking to see if his spread will improve at all. However I must admit that is usually a genetic trait and Aslan probably will never have a real wide tip to tip spread. Now Thunders daddy, grew a large non typical rack when he was 2 and last year was sporting about 22 points. So I think he has great potential. This fall I should be able to tell how both are going to do going forward and that will be the time to decide how I am going to go forward. I may have to see if I can get some genetics from one of those monster bucks. So follow us this summer as we follow these two and see how they are going to do this fall. Who will get the breeding rights if any?
Here are some pictures of Aslan and Thunder.






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