The Search for 170” - An Introduction to Fetal Programming and Why It Should Matter To You!
Charlie Reade
December is usually the time of year where a huge portion of deer hunters take a much-needed break from the woods. A time to tell stories about the season that just passed, relish in the successes and learn from our failures. A time to rest up and plan for the up coming season and down right enjoy our families. Unfortunately, December is when you need to be laying the groundwork for not only next year, but for the foreseeable future of your hunting property.
Sure, the excitement of chasing these elusive critters has worn off as the rut is all but over and the reality of a long off season has set in. But it’s now. December through March, that can easily determine the quality of deer you’ll be hunting not only next year, but for the next 4 or 5 years. You won’t be actually killing bucks in the literal sense of the word, but it’s definitely an important time in the life of a whitetail buck that you need to capitalize on. The very first 200 days of a buck’s life is a time that can either make or break a buck in terms of antler growth and reaching its genetic potential.
Now I’m gonna clarify something right off the hop, I’m no biologist. So in no way shape or form are these my theories or studies. But I can definitely take this information to my hunting property and make it a better one, just by having a better understanding of the animal I love to hunt. So can you!
Fetal Programming isn’t a term or phrase that many hunters are familiar with. In fact, the term primarily originated from the cattle farming industry where studies began. By definition, it would sound something like this. Fetal programming occurs during embryonic and fetal development, a critical period in which tissues and organs are created. Insufficient nutrition during this time results in permanent alterations to certain structural and physiological metabolic functions of the fetus. (1)
In a nutshell what this is saying is that each fawn has a maximum genetic potential for growth at conception, you could relate this to a buck’s body and antler size. This is all controlled by the specific DNA passed along to that fawn by its parents. When this fawn is a fetus, the nutrition it receives in the womb will be one of, if not the most determining factor to it reaching its maximum genetic potential. You can throw all the food and supplements at that buck after it is born, but the damage has already been done and it can’t be reversed.
If you plan on hunting an area year after year. Or are looking to turn your own land into a better producing white tail property, it is time to get to work. Not only is it important to make sure your does are receiving the proper food and nutrition they need during the hardest part of year for ungulates. You need to make sure these does are not stressed and pressured by predators as well. (2) The “Barker hypothesis” postulates that a number of organ structures and associated functions undergo programming during embryonic and fetal life, which determines the set point of physiological and metabolic responses that carry into adulthood. Hence, any stimulus or insult at a critical period of embryonic and fetal development can result in developmental adaptations that produce permanent structural, physiological and metabolic changes, thereby predisposing an individual to cardiovascular, metabolic and endocrine disease in adult life. What I take from this is that not only do my does need the best nutrition that I can provide, But I also need to make sure I take care of my predator issue to the best of my ability. Stress caused by predators and loss of valuable calories this winter could not only result in lost does from winterkill, but it could also have a huge affect on the size of bucks I’ll be hunting in 5 or 6 years.
Another thing that is important to consider and vital with fetal programming, is that not only does it affect the fetus during it’s lifetime, it has also been shown to also affect future generations as well. (3)The fetal environment is influenced by several factors including the intake of macro- and microntrients and toxic compounds by the mother. The genome as such is not changed in the programmed individual, but the causative factors may affect the expression of genes in a way that have lasting effects on the metabolic functions. The critical issue is that fetal programming is even transmitted to the next generations. As someone who is really trying to increase the size of absolutely every buck on their property, that really hits home to me. That says to me that it is more important to help out with minerals and any other way I can now, than it is in the summer and fall when there are abundant food sources.
Now, I’m gonna plug a product right now. And I don’t normally plug anything. But Antler Obsession is a product that I fully support. Not only is the product absolutely top notch. But the people who run the company are top notch as well, and that’s important to me as a consumer. I don’t generally mess around with many products or gimmicks when it comes to hunting. But one of those few products are Antler Obsession.
The application of minerals in the winter when the ground is frozen isn’t an easy task, there’s no sugar coating it so I won’t try. Deer have moved on from their summer diets and are typically browsing at this time of year. The ground is also frozen, and snow covered so it’s not just as simple as adding a bag to a wet spot to create a lick or clearing some leaves and pouring it on the dirt…. But there are ways to get mineral out there to your deer in an effective way. Keep in mind, and possibly the best thing about using the mineral in the winter is that what they don’t eat now ends up in the soil in the spring, so you aren’t wasting any product in the long run.. Keep that in mind when you choose a location to apply it, because some of it may still be there when the snow melts.
Once I’ve located an area that I know that has does that were likely bred, I find a spot that is high in browse material on the edge of their bedding area. Once I’ve got that located, I try and find a freshly fallen tree. One with limbs the deer can eat and bark that has nutritional value as well. Once I have all these things in place it’s just a matter of setting up a camera and pouring out that antler obsession all over the deadfall.
It really doesn’t take long, and they will find it. And when they do, that additional boost of Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Potassium will go straight to the fetus inside that doe. 7 years later, a buck that may have only made 160” could potentially be a Booner. Especially if this guy is the dad and the mom has an easy winter with lots of good food.
Another method for wintertime mineral application that I have had some good luck with is again to identify a good bedding area. Once you have, find an area that has a highly active trail into and out of the bedding area. Without stepping foot in the bedding area, travel along that trail from the bedding area towards the food source and at everything between chest and head height on that trail, sprinkle some antler obsession on any horizontal limb or branch that will hold it. Over my years hunting and videoing deer, I have noticed one thing about them. They are very seldomly in a rush when they are in cover. What I mean by this is that deer will often travel these routes to food slowly and very often they will graze on their way to their main food source. This is a good wintertime application of mineral to add a bit of supplemental nutrition to your does diets.
I hope this has been a good introduction to fetal programming for you and has made you think a little more about your hunting strategy. We often times are more focused on what’s happening right in front of us than we are about 5 years down the road. But this time of season is pivotal for deer, and if we want to see bigger bucks on our properties year after year, we need to put the work in and do what we can to help year round. Two easy and relatively inexpensive things that you can do on your property are supplemental feeding with minerals or food sources depending on local laws, and predator hunting. Hopefully with what we covered in this article you can get those does on your property taking in some minerals and you can get out there and identify if you need to be shooting predators!
Thanks for reading and be sure to check back in soon for my next article on tree stand placement. Hopefully I can help you look for a tree that gets you more encounters!
Thanks yall.
Charlie
⦁ What is fetal programming?: a lifetime health is under the control of in utero healthEun Jin Kwon and Young Ju Kim https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5694724/⦁ What is fetal programming?: a lifetime health is under the control of in utero healthEun Jin Kwon and Young Ju Kim https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5694724/⦁ https://www.cfp-research.com/about-cfp/about-fetal-programmingMy preferred choice of Antler Obsession can be purchased here!
