Food for Thought

[Long Cut]

For those interested in managing habitat, deer herds and trying to promote older age class & larger antlered deer... This posts for you.

I follow Dr. Craig Harper, Dr. Bronson Strickland, Dr. Steve Demeras, Dr. Grant Woods & occasionally... “Dr. Deer”
Listening to people smarter than myself has made my time, effort & money a lot more efficient.

I’m looking forward to this 50 Year study being officially released, but the information is probably nothing new.

The biggest takeaway here is that you can over generations, effectively eliminate the potential for antler genetics over 130”

By enacting “120 or better” rules, the top producing 2-3YO bucks get killed and sometimes never get to pass those genes on.
Now the underdeveloped bucks with no potential to reach 120-130” are allowed to reach maturity, but fall short of the antler requirement threshold.

Harvest bucks based off of Age and not Antler score is the main takeaway.
This costs $0 and can improve herd health, Antler score and allow people to shoot more bucks.

 

[kmckinnie]

Old farmer said to me and he had pics of a huge wide buck with lots of point.
I said u kill him ?
He said you don’t shoot your prize bull.
Makes some since.

 

[antharper]

I prefer to kill mature bucks but I’m not gonna let a giant young one walk either prize bull or not .

 

[Long Cut]

I prefer to kill mature bucks but I’m not gonna let a giant young one walk either prize bull or not .

I agree it would be nearly impossible to let a 3 year old 140” walk anywhere in GA... but that’s why the Atlanta area is producing 150-200” bucks

I think we’re going to start seeing more of these larger QDM co ops start producing some Midwest quality deer and hopefully that changes the pace.

 

[Long Cut]

Old farmer said to me and he had pics of a huge wide buck with lots of point.
I said u kill him ?
He said you don’t shoot your prize bull.
Makes some since.

In this instance he’s getting shot, but it’s ideally holding off until he’s at his prime to shoot him.

 

[johnpoulan83]

Never understood the 8 point or better rule on clubs makes 0 sense to me when tryin to manage deer, a 1.5 old 8 point gets blown away just bc he’s got 8 points

 

[kmckinnie]

In this instance he’s getting shot, but it’s ideally holding off until he’s at his prime to shoot him.

What he’s saying stud bulls like that don’t come along everyday same as what the OP said.
BTW I’m shooting to.
I’m shooting the 8 PT if I see him 1st.
Just me. I like deer meat.

 

[antharper]

I agree it would be nearly impossible to let a 3 year old 140” walk anywhere in GA... but that’s why the Atlanta area is producing 150-200” bucks

I think we’re going to start seeing more of these larger QDM co ops start producing some Midwest quality deer and hopefully that changes the pace.

I’ve seen it right here on this forum , in more than one instance .

 

[DynamicDennis]

Getting enough like-minded people to only harvest mature bucks is hard if it is more than 2-3 people. Since I have started really trying to kill "mature" bucks, I have been killing better deer. Then again if I see one that tickles my fancy, that might be as old as it gets!

 

[Throwback]

Heh

 

[Son]

I can't speak for those I hunt with, knowing they shoot anything with a good rack. But I opt to wait for a mature buck no matter the rack. Most I take are 3 or older, and they've had a chance to pass on their genetics. Some of the bucks I take are 4 to 7 years old, knowing they have passed on the genes. Even with that, we do see plenty six point bucks, some with a good age on them. I have passed on many of those, but probably should be shooting. Photo of one of the big sixes I decided to take out. I pass on many bucks each season.

 

[Son]

We have piebald's showing up every year. I've taken three piebald bucks so far, and there's a couple more we know about still walking.

 

[johnpoulan83]

S

We have piebald's showing up every year. I've taken three piebald bucks so far, and there's a couple more we know about still walking.

he would be a cool one to full body mount , I saw one last year that was beautiful with 4 inch spikes , only reason I didn’t shoot him was because the taxidermist/processor I saw the day before said he was full not taking anymore deer, when I went that day to pic up meat I told him and showed him the picture , he said “oh something like that I would have definitely taken for you” smh. Never saw him again the rest of the year

 

[Son]

I spent many years bass fishing, my dad did also. Our goal was to catch a world record largemouth bass. It never happened. Dad caught many over ten pounds, and think his largest was 11 pounds 14 ounces. I topped out at 15, 6 ounces, a rare catch in Florida even back then. I've caught many over ten pounds, and plenty between 8 to 10 pounds, mostly in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. And a 13 and a half pound bass in lake Thonotosassa where I lived for most of my life to the age of forty. I then moved out of Florida. In my opinion as to why we don't see largemouths like they are catching in California, in other large fresh waters that doesn't have gators is. The gator factor gets bass before they reach their full potential. I've seen gators come surface to swallow large bass and carp right near my boat. Three chomps and the fish is History. Yea I know, my bragging sounds like I'm the biggest liar in Georgia, but I have proof.

 

[Son]

I spent many years bass fishing, my dad did also. Our goal was to catch a world record largemouth bass. It never happened. Dad caught many over ten pounds, and think his largest was 11 pounds 14 ounces. I topped out at 15, 6 ounces, a rare catch in Florida even back then. I've caught many over ten pounds, and plenty between 8 to 10 pounds, mostly in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. And a 13 and a half pound bass in lake Thonotosassa where I lived for most of my life to the age of forty. I then moved out of Florida. In my opinion as to why we don't see largemouths like they are catching in California, in other large fresh waters that doesn't have gators is. The gator factor gets bass before they reach their full potential. I've seen gators come surface to swallow large bass and carp right near my boat. Three chomps and the fish is History. Yea I know, my bragging sounds like I'm the biggest liar in Georgia, but I have proof.

Some of my smaller bass caught over the years

 

[johnpoulan83]

Getting enough like-minded people to only harvest mature bucks is hard if it is more than 2-3 people. Since I have started really trying to kill "mature" bucks, I have been killing better deer. Then again if I see one that tickles my fancy, that might be as old as it gets!

If you wanna kill a 140 in ga you can’t shoot the first 120 you see

 

[DynamicDennis]

True dat

 

[shdw633]

If you wanna kill a 140 in ga you can’t shoot the first 120 you see

No you can't but if you kill that 140 the first time you see one you may be waiting quite a long time to see another one. I think what they are trying to do is move the goal posts on what constitutes a mature deer. 3.5 to 4 year olds are considered mature but they are in their prime and may need to be passed until they are 5.5 or older to allow these bucks to be able to pass on their genes while they are in the prime. I highly doubt you will ever see that in most clubs in Georgia as it's hard enough to get hunters not to shoot the 2.5 years olds, let alone 3.5 and 4.5 year old.

 

[SRShunter]

Let's not shoot any bucks for 5 years. Problems solved...YW lol

 

[johnpoulan83]

Let's not shoot any bucks for 5 years. Problems solved...YW lol

Let's not shoot any bucks for 5 years. Problems solved...YW lol

Make it 7