Sizing up those 'dink' bucks

[Mobuck]

The boys have trail cams out and I'm cruising the fields each morning looking over the smaller bucks that are out bopping around. Compare rack size with body size/stature trying to determine which get a pass and which are on the hit list. Since we have a bunch of CWD tags good for whatever walks by, we have more latitude for culling the under-achievers. Last year we culled 4 'spikes' that were 1.5-2.5 years old.
These under-achiever bucks have been protected by the '4 point rule' for several years and IMHO, have degraded the deer herd with their genetics.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Deer management is important. It's difficult at times to explain to some people....you know, the ones who say "it's only for the horns throw the meat away"

Managing deer correctly not only promotes better genetics/antler growth but also protects against spread of disease and helps keep the herd healthy.

It drives me crazy when I see folks supplementing feed corn with all sorts of stuff from a Walmart shelf poured into a troth or dumped on the ground in a pile. Great way to spread CWD.

In my opinion, the best way to properly manage deer on a property is healthy food plots and culling.

Good hunting to you and yours Mobuck.

 

[contender]

I agree that management is a good tool to use for better health for a herd of deer. Even though my property is MUCH smaller than most,, I try to do the same thing here. Cameras allow me to look at what comes by regularly and I can "select" specific individual deer to be taken for the freezer. I'm a meat hunter,, yet I too also enjoy trying to outsmart them larger, older big boys that choose to visit my place.
No,, you can't eat horns,, and many prefer younger, smaller deer,, I've never had any issues with the meat of older deer. it's sue to allowing them to hang & age a few days prior to butchering. I cut steaks out of an older buck or doe just like I would a younger deer. Properly aging,, AND how you cook them makes a difference.

But culling out less than desirable deer does help manage a deer herd for better health for them overall.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Im not a horn hunter, although I love a nice rack buck as much as anyone. We enjoy deer meat and between my wife and I and our two daughter's families (mostly non-hunters), we usually kill and process 4-5 deer a year (my son and his two boys do their own killing). We do try to practice good management principles on our small property and on lands we have permission to hunt. One challenge is, when wanting to shoot a yearling doe or two for the freezer, trying not to wind up shooting a "button" buck. Our "yearling" deer are often only 6-7 months old in the early part of the season and it takes "scoping the heads" carefully to avoid shooting the baby bucks before we get a chance to see their potential.