Culling with intent to improve genetics

glynr329

Senior Member
PS also provide great nutrition that would probably make more of an impact than killing bucks you think may have bad genetics.
 

tbrown913

Senior Member
Deer don't live in controlled environments so those studies have little meaning to me. What would have happened to those deer had an equal amount of does of all maturity levels been put in with them. I have seen does chase immature and small antlered bucks off food for their offspring, making an even better argument for taking sub par bucks out of the herd to allow the stronger bucks to reach the levels that many hunters are looking for. I am all for letting up and comers grow and get older, don't misunderstand me; however, I have hunted long enough to see does be looked at as sacred cows due to their ability to continue spreading the seed; to be deemed as disposable to those who feel it's better to kill them for the sake of antler size, neither of which is in regard to the management or health of the herd. This has all taken place in just the last 20 to 25 years thanks mainly to what we see on TV and read in magazines. Fortunately, that's not what the biologists that are responsible for the herd is paying attention too!!
Agreed, but the study showed that wild deer geneticsdont play as much of a role as quality of forage when growing bigger deer.

Now that I have a much lower deer density, I have bigger deer. In one hunt this year I saw 3 shooters. In the previous 11 years I saw 3 shooters combined. Give them better food and you will have better deer. Give them better food and let them live longer and you will have great deer. Let them get overcrowded and you will have a lot of mediocre deer.
 
Waiting for the guys to chime in claiming killing young bucks helps the herd. I’m a firm believer in qdma. All the young bucks get a pass.

Can someone tell me how many 1-2 year old bucks the Drurys kill every year? I’m dying to know.

Let em walk.....just let em walk.
 

JustUs4All

Slow Mod
Staff member
OK, chiming in here. If I want to kill a deer for meat at my place I had rather kill a young buck than a doe.

The young buck will be replaced by another in a year or two and the does will all get bread whether he lives or dies. The doe, once gone, is gone forever and her offspring are never replaced.

My goal is likely different from others, though. I want to try to maintain the density of the deer heard that uses my land. I would like to raise it but that is unlikely due to the shooting habits of neighboring lease holders.
 

elfiii

Admin
Staff member
cull

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb
1: to select from a group : CHOOSE

Every buck ever killed was a cull buck. It's the reason why you shot it that is always up for debate. Some people lie about their reason for killing the deer. People who start talking "genetics" are just displaying their ignorance of the topic.

:pop:
 

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