How do human management practices like favoring large racks affect O. virginianus evolution?

Directing artificial selection toward antler growth traits, potentially overriding other fitness factors

When wildlife management focuses on specific, aesthetically driven traits, such as consistently rewarding bucks with larger antler racks through harvest regulations, it creates a direct path of artificial selection. In this scenario, the cultural preference of the management system temporarily overrides natural selective pressures, channeling the population's immediate phenotypic trajectory toward increased antler mass. This reward mechanism can lead to a trade-off, potentially causing other vital fitness factors, such as disease resistance or efficient foraging capabilities, to be neglected or even diminished if the energy or genetic resources are preferentially allocated to developing the favored ornamental trait.