chocolate rack-lookout mnt.

[hoggerhead]

got this buck this past december. got him up on lookout mnt. has anyone ever seen a chocolate racked buck taken from around this area??? this was the first one i have ever seen period.

 

[hoggerhead]

forum went down on me im try to post pics again.

 

[hoggerhead]

here i think i got it.

 

[basser#9]

WE HAVE KILLED SEVERAL OF THEM ON OUR HUNTING LEASE. ALONG WITH WHITE RACKED DEER ON CAGLE MTN. {SEQUATCHIE COUNTY} I DONT REALLY UNDERSTAND THE COLOR DIFFERANCE BUT EVERY YEAR THERE WILL BE ONE SHOW UP?

 

[churly]

I have seen a few dark horned bucks from the area. The color of the horns is dictated by how early they rub their velvet off. If A buck rubs his off while there are still active blood vessels then his horns will be much darker than a deer who waits a few weeks until the velvet dries before rubbing off.

 

[djbogle]

Here's a pic of two of my mounts. Both deer were taken within 2 miles of each other about 10 years apart. The eight-point was taken in November of '96 and the 10-point was taken October '06. Not only were the racks colored differently, the shade of each of the animals was a lot different.

 

[hoggerhead]

hey dj-that pic there is just proof of how much taxidermy has come along in the past ten years. nice deer! i thought that the chocolate racks was a genetic thing. the buck i got had alot darker coat, muzzle, etc. on him too.

 

[djbogle]

I'm not sure if it's genetics as much as nutrition. A lot of the "bottom-land bucks" around here tend to carry a darker rack, while the racks on the "mountain deer" tend to be lighter in color. I've also heard the theory by a wildlife biologist that it stems from where the bloodline came from when the deer's ancestors were stocked, so there's your genetic theory.

 

[hoggerhead]

I've heard four different theories, (1.) its what kind of tree they like to rub, pine=yellow colored, cedar=orange,chocolate=soft mass with not very much sap.(2.) churlys theory, rubbing off velvet too early. the bloodvessels are still working and when the velvet is rubbed off early it stains the antlers.(3.) sun bleaching the antlers out. the more open the area the deer stays in like clearcuts and fields, the whiter the antlers get.(4.)my theory, genetics. just like antler mass and spread get passed on through generations , so do antler color. i guess that there is no proof of any scenario, but genetics and rubbing the velvet off too early are the most beleivable to me. what do you think?

 

[SpurHunter]

hoggerhead - 8/3/2007 9:41 AM hey dj-that pic there is just proof of how much taxidermy has come along in the past ten years. nice deer! i thought that the chocolate racks was a genetic thing. the buck i got had alot darker coat, muzzle, etc. on him too.

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There is a color phase called Mealanistic, which makes the whole deer very dark, or black. I have seen some trail cam pics of such with regular colored deer, and its wild looking to see one. </p>

 

[astro]

ga side lookout mtn. real dark horns

 

[georgia_fisherman72]

a friend of mine killed a 8 pointer last dec. in adarisville,ga on a club that had a dark rack,it was the first one i'd ever seen that dark

 

[Cathooker]

We have taken many deer from Lookout mountain over the years. The majority have been bucks with normal colored horns. We have three nice bucks that have real dark horns. All three of these bucks were not the melanisitc (dark) color. My partner killed one several years ago that was a melanisitc color phase buck but it had light colored horns.....I'm gonna research this ans see what the deer biologists have to say. I love the dark horns on a buck.... congrats on the dark horn buck you got.

 

[hoggerhead]

thanks cathooker, if you find something different that explains this occurance, than i would love to hear it! i tried but coulndt get a definite answer.emoScratch