So what constitutes a management buck ?

[elgato]

Any mature deer I'm tired of feeding.

[muzzlebrake]

To me, simply any buck I do not want breeding...I don't really separate management and culls.

x2

[Bradley]

Me managing to get a deer is my method.

Me and you both..

[JBJTX81]

It should be a mouth that you don't want to continue to feed. For all those that talk about genetics and culling a deer to get rid of his genetics...what about the doe that carries that gene or the younger bucks that carry that gene. You don't shoot a buck to eliminate a gene. If that were the case no high fence ranch would have 8pts. Bottom line...its a mouth you want to eliminate in hopes that something with more potential can reach that potential because it has more resources to available once the other mouth is gone.

[Chew]

If you can "manage" to kill one, go for it.

[Atfulldraw]

"management" is usually just a longer version of "mistake" by people that can't age deer.

so they find a way to 'splain it

a 160 class eight could be a management deer if you are actively aiming for 10's or 12's.

in closing, my final answer is.........






















it depends!

[manwitaplan]

Agree with all above but I have never seen a 8 pt go 194

Sad story to report on this monster 8 point buck illegally taken in Minnesota. Reportedly this 8 point would have grossed over 190″. That’s a frikin huge 8 point! What a giant, massive rack. To have this deer taken by a criminal is such a shame. Here is the info we received from the DNR and wanted to update this post with the truth.
“Troy Allen Reinke, 32, already had shot two deer in October and illegally failed to tag or register them, state Department of Natural Resources investigators say. The Cannon Falls man allegedly already had butchered them and planned to kill another, according to Goodhue County court records. If convicted, Reinke faces $19,000 in fines, up to a year in jail and revocation of his hunting licenses for three years. No court date has been scheduled.”

[Archery1st]

First you have to have trophy deer before you will ever have a management buck. The Word Management buck has got more trophy's killed than a spotlight in east Texas. Once you build a age structure on a Given ranch you have to start cull Animals in order to keep your numbers in check to continue to move forward or you could start going backwards at some point in time. Protein is a great tool to extends the life of Mature deer but, it can create a big problem when you start playing with Nature. When animals stop dying due to Droughts, Post rut, and Increase of Fawn survival it is not always a good thing in the long run if not controlled some how. We have Culls and management buck List. Culls are any 6pt , 7pt, or bucks that are on a list to take out of the heard pretty much from 3yrs old On. Damage does not make him a Cull is my book. These deer are very few and far between for me but, you do always have some it seems like every yr. For some reason some of these culls are just as hard to hunt as the biggest buck on the lease and live to legendary statics. Now we get to what I go by on Management bucks. He is a deer that I at least know a few yrs of history with. I have a real good Idea of his age and I know he has been given a Chance to improve but, seems to carry the same frame from 4yrs on with little improvement. Every place has a different size set on what caliber deer you are able or looking to produce. I set my Limit on 150 class deer and under to be able to make the management buck list each yr on my ranch. A management buck to me is not a none trophy deer. He is a deer that I think is pretty much maxed out and taking up space for a young deer that could have better chances of producing a superior rack. We take deer each yr that range from 6.5yrs to 9yrs + on age . They are deer that we are seeing to be Maxed out rather they carry short Tines, Narrow spread, or Short Beams. Any deer that Has a Big Frame, Wide Spread, Extra Heavy Mass, or that all Mighty Drop Tine will normally get a walk till 7.5 on my Lease. I pretty much always make my list at the end of season for deer I am keeping a Close eye on the following season. I never try and Jump to Conclusions or it could get the wrong deer killed by Mistake. To many Times have Deer I had High Hopes for do nothing and a Deer on the Next yr management list will make a jump that you never seen coming. We take as many as we think we need to remove each yr and that's it. I do no wage war on them. Taking management deer or Culls will never change the Genetic Make up of my LF ranch in my Life Time. I am just stepping in for nature due to me stepping in on it in the First Place. Besides what I have been given a chance to do at this point in Time I would never use the Term Management buck for any reason to kill a Buck

Perfect answer..Anytime you drop the string or pull the trigger you are making a management decision. Trophy/managment or cull is just a classification of your trigger finger management.

Cull - typically any unwanted trait with history 3.5 or older..crab claws/short tines/short beams.

Management and 8/9/10 with history 4.5 or older that has not improved or one that is dominant without trophy potential relative to other deer in the area. A "bully" 8 point with a bad attitude can kill one of your better bucks during the rut if left to run the show.

[Kdog]

That has to be the best explanation I have read in my 14 yrs or so on TBH. Thank you

X2

[Manimal]

Still waiting on my management buck. I don't have a lease so I'm stuck hunting corp land. There's always one a-hole that screws it up for everyone. Like dove hunting while we are bow hunting.

[wtx223]

Not the same on any two ranches but it's simply one that won't meet or help you meet your management goal

There ya go.

[KactusKiller]

On OUR place a mgmt deer is a nice buck that is old but does not meet our classification for a trophy, score wise.

A cull is a deer with undesirable antlers that we don't want around and its all in the eye of the beholder, landowner and lease manager.

Truthfully either can be used interchangeably but that's just how we do it. It gives the hunters a second deer to shoot for their money where we are only allowed one trophy.

Again these are our parameters in a world where everybody does it different.

Mgmt deer example for us in 2013

[ATTACH]661256[/ATTACH]



Cull examples for us in 2013

[ATTACH]661257[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]661258[/ATTACH]


That second sucker, Crawfish, avoided the bow and brought a slightly heavier version of his junk this year.

[ATTACH]661260[/ATTACH]

This is our use of the "management and cull" system.
A little more in depths is;
Management-any 8-9 point that is at least 5.5 and 115" or under.
Cull- any 7 pnt and below that is at least 3.5
We added the "management" name to our rules because nobody was wanting to shoot the mature 8's that were around 100" as a trophy. They were the worst feeder hogs and most aggressive on the lease. Nobody would use a "trophy" tag on these deer so this gave it a seperate classification to add to our "management" plan and also allow hunters to take the best possible management deer.
We still consider a 120-130 8-9 point a trophy for the area we hunt.

[KactusKiller]

First you have to have trophy deer before you will ever have a management buck. The Word Management buck has got more trophy's killed than a spotlight in east Texas. Once you build a age structure on a Given ranch you have to start cull Animals in order to keep your numbers in check to continue to move forward or you could start going backwards at some point in time. Protein is a great tool to extends the life of Mature deer but, it can create a big problem when you start playing with Nature. When animals stop dying due to Droughts, Post rut, and Increase of Fawn survival it is not always a good thing in the long run if not controlled some how. We have Culls and management buck List. Culls are any 6pt , 7pt, or bucks that are on a list to take out of the heard pretty much from 3yrs old On. Damage does not make him a Cull is my book. These deer are very few and far between for me but, you do always have some it seems like every yr. For some reason some of these culls are just as hard to hunt as the biggest buck on the lease and live to legendary statics. Now we get to what I go by on Management bucks. He is a deer that I at least know a few yrs of history with. I have a real good Idea of his age and I know he has been given a Chance to improve but, seems to carry the same frame from 4yrs on with little improvement. Every place has a different size set on what caliber deer you are able or looking to produce. I set my Limit on 150 class deer and under to be able to make the management buck list each yr on my ranch. A management buck to me is not a none trophy deer. He is a deer that I think is pretty much maxed out and taking up space for a young deer that could have better chances of producing a superior rack. We take deer each yr that range from 6.5yrs to 9yrs + on age . They are deer that we are seeing to be Maxed out rather they carry short Tines, Narrow spread, or Short Beams. Any deer that Has a Big Frame, Wide Spread, Extra Heavy Mass, or that all Mighty Drop Tine will normally get a walk till 7.5 on my Lease. I pretty much always make my list at the end of season for deer I am keeping a Close eye on the following season. I never try and Jump to Conclusions or it could get the wrong deer killed by Mistake. To many Times have Deer I had High Hopes for do nothing and a Deer on the Next yr management list will make a jump that you never seen coming. We take as many as we think we need to remove each yr and that's it. I do no wage war on them. Taking management deer or Culls will never change the Genetic Make up of my LF ranch in my Life Time. I am just stepping in for nature due to me stepping in on it in the First Place. Besides what I have been given a chance to do at this point in Time I would never use the Term Management buck for any reason to kill a Buck

Well said!

[sotx]

1000 different answers to that question. All depends on where you hunt and what your goals are.

This^^^^^

[Hunter Todd]

This... OR the biggest buck you have ever killed and don't want folks making fun of it so you say it is a management buck when you post pics.

This is so sad but VERY true. It just seems to have come to that. I was talking to a friend just today about some of the "just a baby" or "needs another year" comments on the forum. Some of the younger guys who spend their hard earned money on a lease and put up a camera. They finally get a picture of a "decent" buck. They post the pic on the forum and there are a bunch of guys saying its "just a baby" or "needs another year". Well, I'd bet MOST of the "just a baby" guys never had to get in done on a lease in East Texas. Nothing wrong with East Texas, it's just harder to seal the deal there most of the time. I wish people realized that not everyone has a pool of 150" deer to choose from.