IMO, if thats a 2.5 year old deer, he has great potential. A deer will not hit its antler potential until he is atleast 4.5 years old with good nutrition. Let him go another year if your after bigger and you might be shocked at what he grows into.

Unless you have a high fenced ranch and know the genetics of every single animal in that fence, it is IMPOSSIBLE to change the genetics of the herd.

I can’t stand the term cull buck. I’m not shooting a buck and calling it a “cull” regardless of how many tags I have. That there is a real nice buck, one more year, 7 pts or not & he’s a shooter for me. He’s almost a shooter as it stands. I don’t think you can change the genetics of a free ranging herd to any degree just by “culling” out less desirable bucks.

HOWEVER, someone did explain the “Cull” buck term that to me made more sense than the getting rid of its genetics. They said that on those high managed farms, a buck that was old, but wasn’t going to hit trophy status needed culled, just because it was another mouth to feed. Had nothing to do with inferior genetics. When it wasn’t going to be a high priced trophy, it fell into the category just like taking a doe for numbers management. No sense keeping around another mouth to feed that wasn’t going to pull in the big $$. To me, that makes more sense. Even though I still don’t buy into the ultra-highly managed philosophy on many of those ranches.

Now that is worth quoting!!! Brilliant!

The term "cull buck" bothers me too, Ry. The whole goal of QDM is supposedly to grow "old" bucks - and let them reach their genetic potential... So if you're an antler-addict, your goal(simply put) is to have Land X with carrying capacity Y stocked with as many old bucks as possible. An age structure that looks like this:



But let's be real here.



Obviously, most areas are population-heavy with 1.5 year old bucks. That should come as no surprise to anyone. Check out the graph above. The moral of the story here is that half of all male deer are dead before their 2nd birthday. Store that in the back of your mind. We'll come back to it.

So, if you really want to shoot a buck, just for the sake of shooting a buck - but you still keep the long-term goal in mind of practicing QDM and letting your bucks reach their genetic potential... Wouldn't it be better to shoot a yearling buck, and let that weak 2.5 go?A 2.5 year old buck is already halfway to maximizing his genetic potential.He's got a 50% shot of seeing 3.5 years old.

I mean, your average 1.5 year old buck has a 30% chance of being harvested by a hunter, a 10% chance of dying of natural causes, and a 10% chance of being illegally harvested. So, basically - there's a 50% chance that this buck is going to die before 2.5anyway. He's only got a 25% of making it to 3.5. (50% x 50%)

So, aren't you in essence, defeating your own purposes by "culling" a buck that's already beat the odds? Realistically, a 2.5 year old buck is only a year away from turning out a really solid rack. Why shoot a buck just to shoot a buck - under the pretense of "culling" him?

If you want to shoot a buck just to shoot a buck, you're statistically better-served by going out andkilling a spike instead. Chances are, he's gonna die anyway. Right? This is a reality that is oft-overlooked by most self-proclaimed "deer managers."

Get out your hip waders: Ryan's right -each deer is 99.9999999999% genetically similar. You can't change the genetics by culling deer. If you want bigger racks, give them better food,more timeandless stress. If you think you're affecting thegenetic dynamics of your herd by shooting one deer - the joke's on you.

The "Mouth To Feed" Argument - I understand the line of thinking, that you will take a weak 2.5 out of the herd, to "free-up" a slot for another deer to move into the range... But seriously - does it REALLY work that way in practice? Is it really as simple as a one-for-one trade? Are there reallya bunch of strong1.5 year old bucks lined-up on the neighboringproperty line waiting for their admission ticket to your land? "Gee willikers - looks like Farmer Smith finally culled Buck#4056 out of the herd, that opens up a spot for me. I think I'll move in now." Sher.



Off Topic- most guys who "think" they're practicing QDM are working with a couple-hundred acres. In reality, these deer are free-ranging and foraging over a much wider range, coming and going at their leisure.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think if you're trying to grow big deer, and you have a 2.5 year old on your land - who might not have the "best" genetics, you're making a mistake by "culling" him. He's already there. He's already proven that he has the survival skills. He just needs more time.

You're just shooting a decentbuck because you want to shoot a decent buck.

"Culling" 2.5 year old bucks on small land plots seems (to me, at least) to be both counterintuitive and counterproductive.

So do I get to kill him, or not?

Dan.. you and I are like peas in a pod.

I hope that doesn't mean you want me to crawl in a sleeping bag with you this November. [&:][8D]

Not a cull buck IMO...

Where I hunt it is a shooter, but in many places in the midwest I would have to let him grow if it was feasible...

Seeing you said there where other deer you had your sights on... That sounds like a NO too me??!!

Maybe you could have a friend / relative / young hunter that isn't as fortunate as you, to cull that nice deer for you.
Seeing you have such a nice inventory of deer to choose from, just think of how better of a hunter YOU would be?!!?!!?

That's my vote

[Deleted by Admins]