immature bull moose

[ratherbefishin]

I have been told in areas of good feed and minerals, the immature bulls may bypass the ''spike -fork'' stage with antler growth,basically making them only legal under ''any bull'' rules.Has anyone else seen/heard of this?

[Tank]

a couple who lived down my road had a "pet" moose that they fed on a regular basis. it grew into a three-point right away, skipping the spike stage. they claimed that the aboundance of quality food they fed it year round caused it to develop 3-point antlers. who knows if it was the food or if its just genetics, but it does happen.

[willyqbc]

It does happen that they will bypass the spike/fork stage, not real often but it does happen. However it can also work the other way as in the case of my "immature" this year. He was legal under the antler restriction being a 2 X 3, but judging by body size, musculature development, shape and size of the head, he was most likely a 4 yr old bull rather than the typical 2 yr old you would usually find as a legal spike/fork. I do think that mostly it is just a case of poor genetics when they don't progress into palms quickly, and a combination good genetics and feed when they by-pass the spike/fork configuration.

just my opinion

Chris