Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Cull Buck, thoughts?

I will guys made some great points for reasons to shoot him. I keep forgetting the Iowa allows 2 or 3 bucks depending on your situation. Indiana is a one buck state which makes shooting an inferior deer difficult in anything other than late season. I agree he's a great buck for a young or new hunter!
 
I guess if you are solely hunting for antler size and not maturity then culling has some effectiveness, but if you are only shooting mature deer then who cares what they score. If you think killing one deer is going to make "bigger" bucks come in I guess that's your call to make, but in the last 14 years of bowhunting I've never had a "bully" buck keeping other mature bucks off my area. If they are truly mature (6.5 y/o) they have a totally different demeanor than the 4.5 y/o's. They mainly keep to themselves, are less aggressive, and do less breeding. Go for it skyleralan, but make sure you are killing him because you want to not because you think you need to.
 
Depending on the area you hunt and other management factors I would give him a pass for sure. I have a history of sheds that end 4 years later when I finally shot him late nov 2010 in 2007 he wasn't much different than that 2010 he grossed 198. Also have a camera history that started in 2010 as what we called a cull buck never got him found dead ehd in 2013 in the 170s with a 14 inch inside spread.
 
Like anything seeing him and closing the deal is another. We all know, a farm depending on many different factors can only support so many deer.

We will just see how it unfolds.
 
So all the breeding hes done the last 3 seasons ,with multiple does . I would say the gene pool is already out of whack if bucks were born. so taking him wont matter then. His siblings are surrounding your property. who knows whats right any more the research we read changes year to year back and forth.
 
I wouldnt want him on my ground. I have a 6-7 yr old on one piece that is half the size he was as a 4 yr old. He is taking up space of what could be a better scoring deer. If only 5 fellas can be on the court why leave the best guy on the bench. Let him in the game!
In terms of breeding. If he were to breed a resident doe on that farm the odds of a buck fawn staying and growing up on that same farm are very very slim. He will disperse to a different area to avoid breeding his own "sisters"
Either way i would try to get a friend or someone to shoot that buck if you dont want to tag an older deer just because he lacks in the antler department.
 
Buck-Man said:
http://www.realtree.com/deer-hunting/galleries/photo-gallery-from-buttons-to-booner
my thoughts exactly
Click to expand...

I read this awhile ago via a link from Twitter, but if you again use this buck as an example from the article any knowledgeable hunter who is managing their property can tell and identify the changes this bucks makes and the noticeable growth from one year to another.

If you would take the buck from my pictures aside from not having pictures when he was a yearling (which no one "culls" a buck from 1-2 years old that I have EVER talked to) to now, 3-3.5 he hasn't made any noticeable change from 2-3. I will go grab you pictures of SEVERAL deer on our farm that you can identify the changes from years 2-3 and then from 3-4.

We will never always get it "right", and with any type of statistical analysis there is always an outlier.
 
I've never believed in cull bucks for the simple fact that half of the "genetics" that a deer gets comes from the doe. And how can you tell what its genetics are? I suppose if you had a game farm you could eventually breed whatever genetics you wanted into a doe. To me any breeding buck is capable of producing a stud deer. No different then people really.
 
Jake_Schlotterback said:
I've never believed in cull bucks for the simple fact that half of the "genetics" that a deer gets comes from the doe. And how can you tell what its genetics are? I suppose if you had a game farm you could eventually breed whatever genetics you wanted into a doe. To me any breeding buck is capable of producing a stud deer. No different then people really.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind, most folks are not shooting the cull bulls to change the genetic pool. They are doing it because their land has only so much room for mature bucks or dominant bucks. Nor are folks, at least anyone I know, shooting young deer like the realtree article - they are not shooting spikes or even 1, 2 and often 3 year olds. They target poor genetic 4+ deer. those deer by that age are often running off several other bucks & removing them opens the valuable and extremely limited space up to other bucks, hopefully of better genetics.
 
Just for discussion, what do you guys think of this buck? Genetic trait or injury? Will he be this funky the next year?
 
no, first time i have ever seen him. I assumed he was older but no idea how old. Don't think i have ever seen an uglier rack!
 
Prime example of a buck we are going to try to take this year. NOT because we think we can change genetics, but rather to open up room for another buck to occupy his space...this buck has been all over our property since I could identify him in 2012. I have to assume he is a 4.5 yr old this year and I certainly wouldn't expect much letting him get to 5.5.

2012
picture.php
picture.php


2013
picture.php

picture.php


2014
picture.php
picture.php
 
I can see both sides of this. I would fall on the side of.....unless I am sure he is fully mature, I will pass and opt for one of the fully mature deer on the property. Yearlings disperse, the babies this guy makes aren't going to live on your farm anyways. Personally I think if you have a history of a buck from 2.5 to 5 or 6 or more from year to year, and you eventually kill him, that makes for a lot more satisfaction than a bigger buck that came from nowhere. I think it's all about your desires. It's your property, extract enjoyment out of it whichever way works for you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom