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I have one for the QDM folks, you know there is a 7-8 year old monster 6 point on the property you hunt, 23-24 inches on the inside of the beam with 12-14" tines, he has never had brow tines or he would be a real brute of an 8 point, you also know there is a nice 3.5 year old buck that was a nice basket 8 last season. Now you see a scrub buck that is an easy shot, do you take him to stop him from mating, knowing that the other 2 nice bucks are still on the hoof? Mind you there is a huge amount of does in your area. You are to your knowledge the only person to hunt this area and you can kill 3 bucks a year and 100 doe. Do you cull him or let him walk, knowing he will breed and may get to be a bit larger, but still be a scrub buck passing on his genes?



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In this given situation I would tag the "scrub", since i have a good shot opp and 3 tags knowing the area that he really does nothing to my heard for the buck side and I don't need more does..so his worth is minimal.(better suited to my freezer)

I would hunt the 6 point and thin the does when the opportunity arises. However if the 6 point was still showing the same signs of monster qualities and the 3.5 basket rack appeared to be not going anywhere...I would opt to take out yet the another poor quality deer, the basket rack. If the roles were reversed and the basket rack was indeed showing signs of going somewhere I would pass him. If the 6 point was starting a downwind swing he'd be gone given the chance.

Now if both these deer were on the up, I would see what else remains in my area for bucks. Seeing the area was scattered with does but only these 2 larger bucks...it wouldn't be QDM to remove the 2 heavies out of the group. I would then harvest mature deer that were in the "Scrub" buck catagory and more does. It wouldn't make sense to get rid of your high genetics if you area was buck/doe out of whack.


If the area was buck/doe in check, I would most definetely spend the bulk of my time on the big 6 and still thinning out my does as I go along. The scrub buck mentioned would be still taken, as would another if the shot was presented (keeping my last tag for the 6).

Is this Trophy Hunting, you bet you are setting yourself up for the future. If their are no Trophies present now then you must make a plan for the future. Reduce the herd, buck/doe in check and get rid of the poor genes. What you'll be left with is year to year growth and quality on the rise. It may take 2-5 years to haul out the bad boy you dreamed of, but then it will just keep getting easier...the more you have the better the chances. (Sure the big 6 maybe considered a Trophy, but if he is the big generator of your genetics pool for quality than removing him would prove to be useless at this point)