Cull buck pics

[Sligh1]

I personally agree 100% with everything you said. My problem is with the people that think a change in regulations is going to automatically increase their chances on “trophy” deer. Let’s just say mature deer to simplify things. Those of us who can even talk about the management of cull bucks have it great! I can see why many who have had it great for a long time are totally happy with thinking one buck a year is good enough for them. I get it. When you’ve been there and done that it’s not hard to get to that point. It’s awesome that you are so comfortable to get to the point where you allow others to come over and harvest cull bucks or whatever we want to call them. You have without a doubt reached the pinnacle of deer hunting and that is awesome. My issue is with all the people blaming the neighbors or blaming the regulations for why they can never harvest or consistently harvest mature deer. It was never supposed to be easy! That’s what makes it so awesome when you get one! I might have even been the same way at some time. I know for sure that I am %100 my biggest enemy for lack of success at times. It’s very easy to get on the internet and blame party hunting and multiple tags and multiple seasons and everything else under the sun for your lack of success. It’s a lot harder to look in the mirror and realize it’s you! Once you stop looking for excuses and start really figuring out what you are doing wrong things get easier. Are deer numbers down in the state? Of course they are in some areas. Do we need to do things to help increase the population? Of course. Do we have to cave to the complaints of everyone who is unhappy and think one or two regulation changes will make their hunting “better” or as I’d say easier? Of course not!

Your buck is a TROPHY!!!! & maybe some could classify as cull but I do think those terms can go together. I’ve hunted a LONG time & I’d shoot that buck every time!. Or have a happy hunter tag him & be stoked. Congrats!!!!

I agree with all above. That it may be more complex than…. “Change in regulations will automatically do _______”. Agree with that too. Some perspective or “food for thought”…. I think the regulations have been changing & it has hurt our resource. So, it’s not like regs have stayed THE SAME. We added new weapons, new seasons & we have far more tools to be drastically effective. Straight walls, late shed buck season, cell cams, higher anttlerless tags, etc, etc. Which- all good but it’s hurt the herd when it all gets added together. I personally don’t feel like dialing back a few things would hurt anything & I do believe it would help. Long discussion on “what is it?” Might be stopping the sharing of tags. Ending shed buck season. Lowering anterless permits.

HERE IS HOW I’D SUMMARIZE Iowas deer hunting & herd & can add many other states to this BIG TIME…..
we ask through POLLS nationally.. “is the country going in the right or wrong direction”. I think it’s hovered around the 60%+ mark “wrong direction”. It got high enough that was a big reason trump won & got house & senate. People want change & action!!! I would pose this… to Iowas deer hunters…. Is the hunting, management & resource going in the right or wrong direction?? I don’t need to be the one to answer that- the public does. My GUESS would be, majority would say WRONG. My gut tells me 2/3rd. Maybe I’m wrong. If I am right- why can’t we look for changes or even demand some? I personally think we are due. Less Doe tags in wide open counties & ehd areas (which is happening). Shed buck season gone. More ehd research & response & IMHO- all funding for CWD is cure/resistance research vs ONLY TESTING! Maybe we look at 3 bucks for LO’s going to 2? Maybe we don’t do tag sharing where countless guys we’ve all seen pile up 2-3 young bucks in one deer drive. I personally think 1 should be it per hunter in that gun season. Sure can’t hurt Likely will help. SORRY ON RANT . We on same page. I’d simply ask- is your region, state or neighborhood going in the right or wrong direction for hunting & the resource?

 

[booneriverbucks]

Your buck is a TROPHY!!!! & maybe some could classify as cull but I do think those terms can go together. I’ve hunted a LONG time & I’d shoot thay buck. Or have a happy hunter tag him & be stoked. Congrats!!!!

I agree with all above. “Change in regulations will automatically do _______”. Agree with that too. Some perspective or “food for thought”…. I think the regulations have been changing & it has hurt our resource. So, it’s not like regs have stayed THE SAME. We added new weapons, new seasons & we have far more tools to be drastically effective. Straight walls, late shed buck season, cell cams, higher anttlerless tags, etc, etc. Which- all good but it’s hurt the herd when it all gets added together. I personally don’t feel like dialing back a few things would hurt anything & I do believe it would help. Long discussion on “what is it?” Might be stopping the sharing of tags. Ending shed buck season. Lowering anterless permits.

HERE IS HOW I’D SUMMARIZE Iowas deer hunting & herd & can add many other states to this BIG TIME…..
we ask through POLLS nationally.. “is the country going in the right or wrong direction”. I think it’s hovered around the 60%+ mark “wrong direction”. It got high enough that was a big reason trump won & got house & senate. People want change & action!!! I would pose this… to Iowas deer hunters…. Is the hunting, management & resource going in the right or wrong direction?? I don’t need to be the one to answer that- the public does. My GUESS would be, majority would say WRONG. My gut tells me 2/3rd. Maybe I’m wrong. If I am right- why can’t we look for changes or even demand some? I personally think we are due. Less Doe tags in wide open counties & ehd areas (which is happening). Shed buck season gone. More ehd research & response & IMHO- all funding for CWD is cure/resistance research vs ONLY TESTING! Maybe we look at 3 bucks for LO’s going to 2? Maybe we don’t do tag sharing where countless guys we’ve all seen pile up 2-3 young bucks in one deer drive. I personally think 1 should be it per hunter in that gun season. Sure can’t hurt Likely will help. SORRY ON RANT . We on same page. I’d simply ask- is your region, state or neighborhood going in the right or wrong direction for hunting & the resource?

Well thanks! No doubt I still consider it a trophy although I will freely admit it is very much a very low scoring mature deer. That fits the definition of a cull buck to many. We most definitely agree on the vast majority of issues and I truly do believe we share the same goal. I could go on and on forever debating each individual issue and sometime I just might do that. I’ll save that for now! I realize you’ve read enough already! When It comes down to it I see two big changes to deer hunting in my lifetime. People tying up as much ground as possible whether through ownership, leasing, permission or a combo of all in hopes of harvesting a trophy deer and technology. Not just technology in the obvious sense either (i.e. cell cams). We have so much technology at our fingertips that generations before us did not have. When I was younger you had to talk to people that knew what they were doing, read magazines, books, beg your parents to buy or rent videos about hunting etc. Now most of that information is available for free from your phone. There are not nearly as many secrets out there about harvesting mature deer as there used to be. Is that good or bad? We all could debate that forever. When it comes down to it i’d like to look at our regulations with a scalpel at first and not a sledgehammer. Things take time to see results. I do not believe we are to the point where we have to take drastic measures to improve the hunting in this state. I also do not believe we need to alienate groups of hunters and create an enemy that we will have to battle for a generation. It really could be worse than we currently have it. I talk to people from many other states and read about their complaints about hunting and the complaints are endless. There is really no consensus or easy fix to the issues. I just think the best way to go about things for now are fixes most can agree on and do not change traditions that many see as important. I also feel our DNR and legislature have very little stomach for tackling some of these issues. I do believe where I hunt we have seen an improvement from limited doe tags and no doe harvesting during first shotgun season. It’s been a few years since we’ve had it but we did really see the results . Both of these changes may have stung at times but many realized they helped eventually. I think the vast majority can get behind stuff like this before we drop the hammer on other things we may not agree with and pick a bigger fight we may not want. Deer drives and party hunting are slowly dying a natural death already due to cultural change and access issues. I don’t think we have to speed up the process and create enemies that could decide to complain about some things we all enjoy right now and mess things up even worse for us in the future.


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[Sligh1]

Well thanks! No doubt I still consider it a trophy although I will freely admit it is very much a very low scoring mature deer. That fits the definition of a cull buck to many. We most definitely agree on the vast majority of issues and I truly do believe we share the same goal. I could go on and on forever debating each individual issue and sometime I just might do that. I’ll save that for now! I realize you’ve read enough already! When It comes down to it I see two big changes to deer hunting in my lifetime. People tying up as much ground as possible whether through ownership, leasing, permission or a combo of all in hopes of harvesting a trophy deer and technology. Not just technology in the obvious sense either (i.e. cell cams). We have so much technology at our fingertips that generations before us did not have. When I was younger you had to talk to people that knew what they were doing, read magazines, books, beg your parents to buy or rent videos about hunting etc. Now most of that information is available for free from your phone. There are not nearly as many secrets out there about harvesting mature deer as there used to be. Is that good or bad? We all could debate that forever. When it comes down to it i’d like to look at our regulations with a scalpel at first and not a sledgehammer. Things take time to see results. I do not believe we are to the point where we have to take drastic measures to improve the hunting in this state. I also do not believe we need to alienate groups of hunters and create an enemy that we will have to battle for a generation. It really could be worse than we currently have it. I talk to people from many other states and read about their complaints about hunting and the complaints are endless. There is really no consensus or easy fix to the issues. I just think the best way to go about things for now are fixes most can agree on and do not change traditions that many see as important. I also feel our DNR and legislature have very little stomach for tackling some of these issues. I do believe where I hunt we have seen an improvement from limited doe tags and no doe harvesting during first shotgun season. It’s been a few years since we’ve had it but we did really see the results . Both of these changes may have stung at times but many realized they helped eventually. I think the vast majority can get behind stuff like this before we drop the hammer on other things we may not agree with and pick a bigger fight we may not want. Deer drives and party hunting are slowly dying a natural death already due to cultural change and access issues. I don’t think we have to speed up the process and create enemies that could decide to complain about some things we all enjoy right now and mess things up even worse for us in the future.


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Very well stated & you make some seriously good points!!!!! THIS^^^^^ is why we have discussion & “debate” amongst ourselves. No one knows it all & we have a broad group of minds, goals, desires & even problems we need to solve. More discussion & even “debate” in a respectful way is how hunters as a whole can work to solve some of the challenges we are facing. Basically- dang good post!!

 

[booneriverbucks]

Very well stated & you make some seriously good points!!!!! THIS^^^^^ is why we have discussion & “debate” amongst ourselves. No one knows it all & we have a broad group of minds, goals, desires & even problems we need to solve. More discussion & even “debate” in a respectful way is how hunters as a whole can work to solve some of the challenges we are facing. Basically- dang good post!!

I have no doubt that eventually we will get this all figured out!! We really do all have the same goals!


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[Sligh1]

This one shot on me. Old mean sucker. *he’s tagged and called in, just pic from right when found him.
Maybe grew 5” from last year. Someone named him “Dick”. Cause he wasn’t very nice to other bucks. . Happy hunter & Dick’s days of beating up the young studs are over!

 

[HWC]

I get it. But - I do have “plenty of bucks” on my place …. A lot that are older with far better genetics & likely have been exposed to ehd. The reality of this buck… he would have suffered a tough long death & i had a hunter happy as a clam to shoot him. & he did get shot after the rut so his breeding days were behind him as he woulda been dead soon. Nothing is perfect but this worked out pretty well all things considered.


I know it’s a slippery slope & “cull buck” can get interpreted a million ways. Why I site examples. The one above… was 4.5 years old. He had a small rack that’s way below average. BUT!!!! There was a happy hunter that was stoked to shoot him. EXCITED. The deer wouldn’t have made it through either so…. Trophy to that hunter, meat not wasted & yes, I would consider “cull”. But that also means “trophy” in same regard as contradictory as that may seem. “Cull” & “trophy” absolutely can go together.

****& yes, when I discuss this topic outside of this website, I will use terms like “management buck” or “bully buck” & bring the age discussion into it. I am well aware of what words play better in the general public & I don’t want to distract with using a bit more controversial term as it just distracts from the discussion or education on management.

ON THE FLIP SIDE OF SHOOTING “CULL/Management bucks” !!! An issue that happens WAY WAY WAY more than “shooting a low scoring 4.5 or older”…. Most farms or many farms… those deer get passed and the best genetic (often younger) higher Scoring bucks get targeted and killed. See it ALL THE TIME!!!!…. Dudes pass a 135” 6.5 year old and shoot a 3.5 150”. Or a 160” 4.5. Then they will shout from the rooftop- “why would I shoot the lessor scoring buck?!?!! That’s my trophy!” Flush it out to “what’s best for herd, other hunters, future years, being a steward, etc” - sorry… this is black & white on THAT level…. Passing a 130” 6.5 & shooting a 145” 3.5 ….. one is wise, biologically backed, sound management, renewable (taking the mature animals & letting young go) & better stewardship. Period. Am I discounting “well it’s about the experience. I want to shoot a trophy!” NOT AT ALL. I get it. But some folks just want it both ways & there has to be management we can discuss that is based in facts & merit - even if we consider the emotional side of it. Have I shot bomber 3.5’s? YEP! Was I proud? YEP (when I started). Is it wiser, based with facts & biologically merited to shoot the older (& lessor scoring or any score) over the young stud? OF COURSE!!!
So- my point in a nutshell is: reality on the ground, across the state…. We could debate “cull buck or management buck” & even give a “negative spin” to it if desired. & heck, shooting a “trophy” can get a negative spin if that’s ones goal. But- the reality is: vastly more farms let the “culls” walk by and target the young best genetic deer vs the opposite. One has a factual, non-emotional basis for doing it. One ONLY has emotion. I’m not saying we can’t be in both camps or we all haven’t been in both camps (I have)…. It’s simply that we need a baseline management plan we can point to for those that do want facts, if they are seeking them, on how to best manage the deer herd.
Reality for average hunters who strive for better management…. Take “cull” out of vocabulary. Hunt on age. If u can grow 4-5 year olds and u want to manage… hunt 4-5 year olds and pass 2-3 year olds. Or whatever. The more we discuss age class in deer, the vastly better everyone’s hunting & health of our resource will be.

Great post and in the title I wish I had added management/bully buck. I would 100% rather shoot a 6.5 130 inch buck over a 3.5 150" buck. The biggest issue is working on becoming an expert at aging on the hoof and I feel like I am better at "aging" other guys trail cam bucks than my own.

 

[Nightvision]

This one shot on me. Old mean sucker. *he’s tagged and called in, just pic from right when found him.
Maybe grew 5” from last year. Someone named him “Dick”. Cause he wasn’t very nice to other bucks. . Happy hunter & Dick’s days of beating up the young studs are over! View attachment 128941View attachment 128942

If I lived up there, I’d gladly be your cull man.

 

[hans1]

This is one cull buck that gave us the slip a few time tried to hunt him with 2 different youth hunters. Had my brother sit with a friend who got him 1st day of late Mz

 

[IowaBowHunter1983]

Yikes