do you normally cull deer? do you have a krazy amount of land? Are you killing this deer to make you happy and just using the cull idea to feel better about it when telling your friends? If you want to kill him kill him...no need to justify it by calling it a cull.
wow. I would leave him. I have no interest in that type of buck. Don't really believe in culling. He was probably damaged in velvet as a youngster. His genes are probably okay. Unless you have 2 or 3 that look the same? If I needed the meat I would shoot him, but we only get one buck tag. I can shoot many does, so meat is normally not an issue.
Culling isn't going to achieve anything unless you have enormous amounts of land, and a lot of people that are strictly adhering to a QDM program.
Even with large amounts of land culling has mixed results. Culling was developed by high fence ranches to sell hunt for lesser animals, will not improve a wild deer herd, way to many variables.
I think it is interesting how so many people are dead set against culling. There are many people who say it will have no effect whatsoever. I wonder how much of this opposition is due to the lack of scientific evidence on culling. Having an agriculture background, I will tell you, I have experienced culling first hand in my fathers hog herd...and it works great. If any of our breeding stock had undesirable traits they ended up on the next trailer to the buying station. Any buck with undesirable antlers is a real threat to passing those genes on to the next generation. If there is a low buck to doe ratio, this could mean passing along his genes to quite a few deer regardless of how big the piece of property is. That being said, if you have a deer that you would like to see culled, it could be a perfect opportunity to get a youngster a great "trophy."
The problem with culling is that most experts are now saying up to 70% of the antler genetics are carried by the female.... So the real culprit are the slick heads out there running around, and good luck finding which ones have the "bad" genes. A hog lot is a closed controlled environment with a much faster breeding schedule to expedite the results of culling. Kill a inferior hog and another one won't take his place from the next farm over as it would happen in the wild. Nowhere near comparable.
I have no problem if someone wants to try to eliminate a buck because of genes. Whether that will help or not? I have no idea. If that makes you happy for what you are trying to accomplish. Go for it. If it was me and at the end of the year I would take it out just because of lack of more hunting time. I personally wouldn't shoot a buck like that early in the season. I always wonder how people assume that it isn't genes and that it was probably injured when the deer was younger. Seemed hard to tell from those pictures. I couldn't tell if it was genes either though? Ha.
I absolutely hate the word culling. Let him grow or let a younger hunter shoot him. or someone who is hunting more for the meat rather than a world class buck
Give him a chance and see what he turns into next year. I let one walk in 2010 and turned out to be a good one last year. He was hit by a car and I never got a chance at him.
I agree that Culling can have mixed or no results. I will also notate that I have a gene that has developed at my property in the last year or two where I have HUGE spike bucks that refuse to fork or grow points as they get older and end up looking down right crazy. While I understand gene issues can be linked to the female just as equally, I feel if I try to eliminate one breeding gene to the next, the probability is lower if that is eliminated.
If its true that doe have 70% of rack genes then how does that explain similar looking racks over years and years.. that means that buck would have to breed with a doe that has the same genes that would support a similar rack growth. and with the stunning almost perfect resemblance of some offspring and their fathers i find that hard to believe. especially how frequently it happens. Though does do have some genetic input into it im sure im thinking it is more of a sex linked trait. That being that the gene for the rack is on the (comparable to humans) "Y" chromosome that determines it is a male. This would explain that if the father gives the Y chromosome meaning the offspring is a buck then it would pass its rack genetics as well.. which would give his son a similar style rack. Not calling you a liar by any means, just being a current science major it didnt make much sense to me. if you could maybe find the study id love to read it! That being said. i believe in the culling theory myself but in pa we only have one tag and im not going to change a states deer herd one buck at a time if you want to shoot him shoot him, if not someone will get him eventually not a big deal.
I would let him go until next year. If you believe that he is only 3.5 then give him another year to see what happens. By that time he will definitely be a buck to be proud to take regardless of what his rack looks like anyways. A 4.5 year old is always a challenge to take.
Thanks for all the responses. It is nice piece of land that i have had for three years and have never seen anything look even close to this on the property. I personally was not going to use my tag but know of plenty of people i hunt with who would come over to take a shot at him. I will probably give him one more year and see. I am going to check cameras again tomorrow and see what else we have. On this camera alone i had over 11 different bucks mostly 2.5-3.5 in just 7 days. been two weeks since i last checked.
He's probably suffered a injury in the past which does affect the rack. Sometimes they will grow out of it and some won't but IMO I'd let him grow a few more years.
