Cull or pass?

[awbowhunter]

So, is the assumption this buck could never breed and make a branch antlered buck? Define why you would cull?

My dad was 5'9 I am 6'1 glad he was not culled....lol...just sayin.

A future bucls genetics are not determined by the buck alone. And this culling spikes, or inferior buck thing has been exhaustively studied for years and proven NOT to work.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

So, is the assumption this buck could never breed and make a branch antlered buck? Define why you would cull?
.

Because he’s a legal buck and he looks like he would taste good. He might actually be a bit on the slim side (aka a bit young), but with a bag limit of three bucks a year, I would happily eat him.

Edit - my initial response to this thread was a bit tongue in cheek. I’ll happily shoot any buck that looks like it is at least 15-18 months old. I don’t hunt for bragging rights, but I also don’t shoot does except in places where there are too many deer.

 

[7LRM]

Shooter

 

[Boarmaster]

We would call that a cow horn not a spike. We call a spike a young deer with much shorter single antlers. While that deer in the pic isn't ancient he is old enough I would guess he will not mature into a buck with a trophy rack. But he will grow into a big ole deer.
If I took the notion to shoot him I might but I would probably pass on him. I’m not convinced culling makes a big different in my neck of the woods. I doubt we can kill enough not typical bucks to make a difference. And then there's the does which carry the other half of the bad genes. No way to tell which of them to cull. If you got plenty of racked deer on your property killing ones like this wont negatively affect your herd. They make good freezer fillers.

 

[jaedewill]

Definitely not a cull.

 

[PaHunter86]

Since my son can still shoot spikes and forkeys, he is hoping he gets one of these 2 this season.

 

[browning2480]

I never could figure out how someone could track a spike into the next year as a branch antlered buck. How do you now it is the same deer, if it doesn't have some sort of distinguishable body characteristic? We don't shoot spikes but have always wondered how someone determines they grown into bigger deer years later.

 

[ozyclint]

Never understood the cull buck thing.
A hunter shoots a 'cull buck' to stop him passing on his genes.
Same hunter shoots a 'trophy buck' and stops him passing on his genes.

My suspicion is most 'cull bucks' are called such to justify killing them in the first place. Usually as a result of slaking a blood lust but being disappointed in the size of the rack.

 

[Huntsalot]

I believed the same thing, until we took over a large tract of land (6 square miles) that was a “meat club”.

Killing off all of the older bucks and changing the genetic makeup of a herd are two different things. Deer have the same genetics from birth until death.

 

[Davyalabama]

This may be unpopular, but cull is just another word for "I want to kill something."

 

[insanelupus]

At this point in life, if it's a legal deer, I'm in the camp of hunt your hunt, and tag what gives you joy.

On any given day, what pleases me can change and is often centered more around the experience than anything else.

Take 'im, leave 'im, makes no difference to me! It's your tag.

 

[Bearcat39]

pass, thats a 1 1/2 year old

 

[ozyclint]

This may be unpopular, but cull is just another word for "I want to kill something."

Exactly what I was eluding to.

 

[ianpadron]

I believed the same thing, until we took over a large tract of land (6 square miles) that was a “meat club”.

We had over 60 trail cameras among all of us, the oldest buck the first year was one single 3YO. Biologist confirmed, we do trail cameras surveys and have cameras on every food plot, feeder, creek crossings, scrapes etc..

It took us 3 years to get our first 5YO buck, and we’re beginning to have a more balanced age class among our bucks now.

I’ve heard Dr. Strickland & DeMeras at MSU Deer Lab refer to “high grading” a buck herd before and I have first hand witnessed it personally now.

You've got the same exact gene pool, just an older age class.

 

[Long Cut]

You've got the same exact gene pool, just an older age class.

If you killed every 6’ or above person for generations upon generations before most ever reached maturity, after a while seeing a person that was above 6’ would become an extreme outlier.

Same principle applies. “You have the same exact gene pool” Except for the past 30+ years all of the genetically larger racked bucks got killed at 2-3 YO and the inferior bucks were allowed to grow old and breed.
- Yes 50% of the genes come from the doe… but again when they’re killed at a young age that doesn’t matter after several generations of this.

These are free range animals yes, but I’m talking about a property that’s 10+ square miles hunted that way for 30+ years.

 

[ianpadron]

If you killed every 6’ or above person for generations upon generations before most ever reached maturity, after a while seeing a person that was above 6’ would become an extreme outlier.

Same principle applies. “You have the same exact gene pool” Except for the past 30+ years all of the genetically larger racked bucks got killed at 2-3 YO and the inferior bucks were allowed to grow old and breed.
- Yes 50% of the genes come from the doe… but again when they’re killed at a young age that doesn’t matter after several generations of this.

These are free range animals yes, but I’m talking about a property that’s 10+ square miles hunted that way for 30+ years.

You're not impacting their genes.