When do you shoot the BIG one??
 

I notice a lot of people that see pictures of deer that look older with small racks, or weird racks or just plain "bad genetics" and say that person should take that deer out of the herd. Since in PA we only get one antlered deer per season, when should you shoot that big one that we've been cultivating all these years by getting rid of the "inferior" deer? Just a question that popped into my mind and I don't remember ever seeing a question out there like this. For me I could thin the herd of "bad genetics" for the rest of my life. Just wondering when the big one we've been building for years gets the shaft..haha

RE: When do you shoot the BIG one??
 

I think that is personal choice. For me, if he is at least 3 1/2, standing broadside at 25 yards or less, not aware of any danger........that's when I take him.

RE: When do you shoot the BIG one??
 

Personally if I had a herd/land to manage I'd let the "bad genetics" go until the last day of the season unless I got a nice buck before that. Or maybe I'd take the "big buck" one year and the "bad genetic" buck the next, and just go one that that switching from one to another. Just wondering about the people that take out the undesirable ones and let the nice ones grow bigger. When do they take the big one?

RE: When do you shoot the BIG one??
 

Culling for 'bad genetics' is an exercize in futility!THe genes are already so spread around, in the bucks and does,that it would take a slaughter to actually begin to put a dent in controlling this. Concentrate on what makes you content as a hunter and not someone else's artificial standard.Follow the guidelines of your state laws and enjoy hunting for what it is, not what the 'trophy police' are trying to turn it into.

RE: When do you shoot the BIG one??
 

I think that when you see people say that they took out this deer or that one for bad genetics or for management reasons then those people typically get a chance to harvest more than one buck a season. The only time I have really seen it mentioned in PA is on private leases or clubs looking at starting a deer management program.

...or if someone is presented with that opportunity on one of the last days of the season.