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.
Agreed, but the study showed that wild deer geneticsdont play as much of a role as quality of forage when growing bigger deer.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!!
Let em walk.....just let em walk.