Thread: How does antler growth work?

I have a couple of cameras out in the hills and managed to capture a few beasties getting about. Ive been trying to find out whether some of the younger appearing stags with weak looking antlers will improve over time, or if they are destined to be average for life. As in, will an average looking 4 or 6 point stag become a 10 or 12 or more? I understand that feed and genetics play large parts but I would like to know more. The area is north island bush, so I don't have the luxury of sitting hundreds of meters away and assessing an animal before choosing to shoot or not. But the cameras do give an idea of what is about, its just hard to know what should be left to grow and what to harvest.
Ive added a couple of images of a stag just for conversation. He's no record but the pics may help the discussion.