A "cull" buck is usually one that suffers from major "ground shrinkage" from what thethe hunter thought he was shooting at as approaches the dead animal. Therefore, a good story is concocted to justify his actions and why this deer was needed to be taken.

On a serious note, I am not smart enough to determine what has reached its potential or not or even 100% sure the age of one on the hoof.

I do KNOW however, that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a 1.5 to become a 3.5 next year, but the 2.5 that is passed this year will most DEFINITELY be a 3.5 yo next year. If you believe as you stated that any 3.5 yo is a trophy, then you would fall into my line of thinking in not taking any deer thought to 2.5 yo bucks.

But back to culling and aging. Here is two pics of young deer that I saw this past weekend. The first one's body is HUGE compared to the other young bucks I saw, yet his rack is less than most. Is it possible that he is a 2.5yo with little potential? A 2.5yo whose potential cannot yet be determined? Or is he just a a big bodied 1.5yo?

I also included a pic of the smalles bodied buck I saw this weekend for comparison purposes.