Cull buck-maybe?

[wtnhunt]

What do yo guys think? Is the left side and injury or just something screwy with genetics. Got several we have seen with no brows this year a couple of wide 1.5 year old 4 pointers that are smaller in the body than this buck. Have seen this 3 point several times, I know he is not a mature deer, but think he will ever really amount to anything or think needs to be taken out if we get a chance?

[BowtechTurkeyHunter]

No Brows I would take him out ... sounds like the Genetics are there and that wouldn't be a good thing to pass along ... I would cull every no brow deer out of my heard if I thought the herd could withstand it ...

Steve

[buckee]

He looks like he is still pretty young (last year's fawn). Very small bases. I'd give him another year, just to be sure. Pretty cool lookin corkscrew....eh

[shockwave]

give him another year,keep your camera in the woods and see what happens

[Mirage]

I dont believe in culling deer I think they are all great!

[toddyboman]

I think he is just a young buck and this is his first rack. His horn probably grew that way because he probably hit it on something while in velvet. Lots of young deer (first racks) dont always have brows but develop them next year. I would give him at least another year and see what happens. JMO

[nemodeerhuntersneighbor]

The number one most important factor in for big deer is age. Sometimes bucks need till their 3-4 yrs old to show their stuff. This deer looks young and needs a chance to show his.

[gitcha_some]

wack em

[Finn]

I'd give him one more year and then cull if it's still jacked up.

[6sixpoint_nobrows]

pretty cool pic....like they said above one more year wouldnt hurt....just to be safe..

[Kory]

He could have hit it on something, give him another year.

[arrow32]

Give him another year. One last chance to get it right.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

[ QUOTE ]
No Brows I would take him out ... sounds like the Genetics are there and that wouldn't be a good thing to pass along ... I would cull every no brow deer out of my heard if I thought the herd could withstand it ...

Steve

[/ QUOTE ]

That is exactly correct if you're attempting to intensively manage for superior genetics. A spike or any buck that lacks eye guards is displaying the major traits of deer that do not carry the genetic potential to reach "trophy" size. And this is applicable regardless of age.

Now keep in mind that this management strategy isn't something that should be applied haphazardly. If you're serious about trophy management, then you've got to stick to your plan and don't expect to see major results for several years. But when the results do start coming in, you'll be amazed at what you see!

A rough example of a trophy management plan might include removing all spikes and all bucks without eye guards regardless of age. That means that only the 1.5 year olds with 6 or more points walk. Then you'll want to remove all 3.5 year olds that don't have at least 10 points. You'll also remove all 4.5+ bucks that won't score over 150. Along with this, you need to be removing a significant number of older does so that the remaining younger does that breed will have a greater chance of carrying the desirable genetics of their fathers. It's a very long term and complicated process, but it DOES work.

If you'd like to see the results of some of these management programs, visit the Los Cazadores web site and check out the bucks that are entered in that contest. Virtually all of these deer come from ranches with intensive management practices. Some are high fenced, but others are not. Each entry is clearly marked as to whether it came from a high fence or low fence property.

[Bond]

I disagree Texan. You can't tell what a buck is going to be like until he's 3.5 at the very minimum. A spike or a fork just means that they were born later. A yearling spike could very easily outgrow a yearling 6 or 8 point by the time they're both 4.5.

My philosophy was always against culling because we don't have enough bucks and the bucks never got old enough that even a small 4.5 year old would be a wall mounter. Most bucks around here just don't get to be that old. A small 4.5 year old would probably be bigger than an average 2.5 or 3.5 that most people shoot around here. I always figured the more bucks, the better.
But now it's been proven that culling spikes is a bad philosophy. Go ahead and pick up the October November and December issues of NAW and read all about it.

[Bond]

I do however agree about culling the 4.5 year olds that aren't over 150. By the time they're 4.5 years, you can tell that they're going to be a good buck or not.
I still won't practice though, at least not on our hunting land. A 145 is still a trophy in my book.