is it Genetics or is it food ?

[Mexico]

Genetics can’t be moved up or down with a rifle, especially in the situation you describe where young deer do most of the breeding.

Agree, most people will never get this!! The only situation where it might help is under an intensely managed high fence but even then the bell curve shift is minimal, and it takes years to see results.

[Big Mike M]

I know of a ranch that doesn't kill spikes and killed the state record... twice.

Maybe you should have been killing spikes and y'all could of did it 3 times.


JK Marco.

[bukkskin]

For a thousand years all bucks were put in an impossible to achieve hypothetical situation where every buck was correctly selected and shot with a rifle consistently by 30 successive generations of hunters with no other changes to their environment or noise in the system.

Sounds doable... you get on that.

Answer the question??

Agree, most people will never get this!! The only situation where it might help is under an intensely managed high fence but even then the bell curve shift is minimal, and it takes years to see results.

Shane, ya'll don't take any culls?

Actually, I hope that both of you are correct. I don't shoot any spikes and don't like having to kill culls (management ) deer. But our ranch owner gets frustrated if we don't shoot enough.
I would love to let them ALL grow up, more mature deer for everyone.
I mean, if it is not gonna help the genetics, why not?

[elgato]

We've never shot spikes anywhere. And we let them ALL grow up. Call them culls or management deer or whatever...all semantics. What i can tell you is the hunters that get to shoot them are very excited. The only logic I employ to removing bucks is herd population management.

I always found the 'culling to improve genetics' idea more an excuse to shoot deer than anything practical. I personally do not believe you can with great consistency tell a bucks genetic potential till he's at least 4. I've seen to many surprises with young deer. So we start removing deer at 4 [ or 3 for those that believe ] yet how many will also shoot a trophy at 4 or 5 or even 6. How many are willing to let all the top end bucks grow old and die of old age to maximize their breeding?

So in essence we are killing the 'inferior' deer to improve the genetics then turning around and shooting the trophies cause ...well they are the best deer out there.Hmmm!

[Encinal]

Guys that breed need the “shot down genetics” story to sell deer.

It’s just a marketing tactic.