Big button bucks 2014

I personally would like to see the mass build sooner than tine length. Just my opinion. Had one last year with hardly any length but thick buttons and he turned out to be my biggest yearling

I remember several buck fawns over the years that have been advertised with forks as fawns and none of them ever turned out to be spectacular. I think one of them may have been named Shaq. We have also learned our lesson buying or breeding with yearling's semen. If a yearling looks exactly like an older brother did as a yearling in antler shape, spread, tine, and beam length I would very skeptically consider breeding the buck but probably in the end wouldn't do it. We buy semen and breed with mature bucks that have kept their antler shape and the characteristics we prefer. If they are all over the place with different type antlers at 1,2,3 or 4 there is no predictability in breeding to that sire in my opinion. On our farm the heavier massed button bucks have consistently been the nicest yearlings.

In 2003 we had a buck fawn with the heaviest largest buttons we have ever had on a buck fawn on our farm. He had serious mass and had a fork on one side. I named him Roy. The next March another soon to be yearling was blowing Roy's budding antlers away. They were both sons of the same sire. Later in July of 04 I had to cut off the bigger yearlings "Stump Jumpers" horns. He was over 200" with 27 scorable points but I never told anyone because in that era yearlings didn't score 200". I was very inexperienced at removing velvet antlers. Stump Jumper had a stinky antler infection. I thought I could cut off the stinky part and put a hog castrating band around what was left. His mass was much too large for me to use the tool and get the band over the horn. I was by myself. The blood was shooting 3' in the air from where I cut off the damaged antler. Everything was much more slippery than I ever imagined. I put a separate tourniquet around his base and removed the rest of his antlers in about 5 pieces. There was just a pile of velvet antler left from the largest yearling I had ever seen. It was a miracle he didn't bleed to death. Roy scored about 120" as a yearling and around 150" @ 2. Both he and Stump Jumper died of EHD @ 2.

whats the white stuff looks like he is eating it ?