Buckstopshere

In the real world, under the sky I did let them pass, a couple of times. They and a few of their buddies hung around the zip-tied scrape cluster in that old apple orchard until all the apples and does were gone. I was trying to make the theoretical point that sometimes it might be better to harvest the smaller buck and let the older one, with better antler potential (at least in the short term) go to really be something the following year.

Every place can grow great deer behind high fences, if they are fed, managed, and start with superior genes. Adirondacks or south Texas, doesn't matter.

A beautiful animal! We all want to get there. We just disagree on the way to the promised land.

And here is another. We are overrun with these types of bucks. Everybody passes them, but a six point yearling. Bang.

Look at that brisket, the way his neck is developed,..just looks like a pure bred show dog or a show horse. I look at a lot of spike bucks, none of them look like that.

How 'bout this wild spike buck in my neck of the woods. Would you take him out of the gene pool, or let him go so he could grow?

That is one well bred, well fed, genetically superior spike buck. Probably not a wild deer. But to answer the question...if the deer was a wild spike...always depends on the local population. If you are overrun with spike bucks like him and there are forks and six points the same age, sure. Take him.

For those who like the science of deer management, here is another good read. Management of Spike bucks .pdf

Had a heavy, dynamic rut with lots of chasing right on the full moon in November, as predicted, like every year. The next rut cycle will pop in a week on the next full moon, just like clockwork.

Here's a wound. I think the doe dropped and an arrow just plowed a furrow through her fur. Their reflexes are incredible.

There remain a number of hunters that are still emotionally invested in the notion that antler restrictions are the way to the promised land. But when confronted with science, like the 26-year Kerr Management study, cited above and others, they understandably react with "ad hominem" remarks. I consider personal slams as tacit capitulations.

I have know a handful of serious deer managers down through the years that thought that by not shooting does, their deer population would increase. The does they didn't kill just moved out because their property reached carrying-capacity.

All properties are not the same. Two properties next to each other can have different buck/doe ratios and populations, and often do. Some properties are full of deer, others suck. Irrational to think that the DEC can micromanage every property. You hunt in an overall area, a DMU that the DEC says the whitetail population there is too high. If you shoot a doe, another will move in to the carrying capacity of your hunting property. You can't put five quarts in a four-quart pail. Does are very territorial and will push each other out in the spring. Since you have plenty of does in the area (DMU) (maybe not on your property,) I wouldn't worry about the impact because they will just move in if it is good cover with food sources handy. Bon appetit!

Ill let you off the hook this time.

Now that's a bit of a stretch...but you are loyal.

I'm sure you meant "too ignorant" not "two ignorant."

Glad to see somebody is paying attention!

Yes, on the graph, that is what it shows.

I too like to hunt for the older buck. I too hunt four properties with bow, rifle and soon muzzleloader because I have all my tags filled. Where I hunt, it is different than you. I saw 15 different spikes and forks for every little racked buck I passed. Here, we are overrun with big and little forks and spikes, and many with no horns at all. I know one woodlot where a big, 2.5 or 3.5 is the stud...and his antlers are broken off! . Lots of hunters here, everyone passes the spike and forks, but if a little buck has six points...it's dead. How can we see bigger bucks here with that mentality?

That jump in the graph from 2.5 to 3.5 is the largest jump, but after 4.5 the curve tends to flatten out. So many of our wild junkyard, mutt bucks will never be much, even if they have age. And those guys are doing a lot of the breeding. If they hit 3.5 and are sub-100 B&C points, they will never be much according to the graph you posted. The "protect the spike buck at all costs mentality" is hurting our buck potential.

Well, we disagree on that point which you made that age is the "one factor and one factor alone" that influences the potential of a buck. In the peer reviewed Kerr study and others it is shown that with high grading (shooting off the best young bucks to let the spikes do the breeding) will tend to produce smaller bucks down the road. And it just makes commonsense.

Great for the taxidermy business! But sounds like high grading management. For your reading pleasure...a study of whitetail buck populations, not one animal with exceptional genetics. Understanding Spike Buck harvest .pdf

Nice bucks...and that is sincere! But they are junkyard bucks...I love the one on the tailgate with the busted up left beam...my kind of Western NY buck! Even the short-tined buck with the stunted G2 and G3 on the right beam is a good one to get out of the gene pool. Beautiful 10 pt. I have never seen one with such elegant slender tines. A lover not a fighter! What did he score? I bet low for a 10! Unique. A beauty. And three nice 8's. I would be happy to shoot any of them because even if they had more age, they probably wouldn't amount to much. They were about all they would be.

Why saw the hind quarters off? Just use a knife at the hip joint. IMO length of aging depends on the ambient air temp. Some years, my hung deer just freeze and there is no aging maturation of the tissue. Like green-killed deer. Good post! Years ago in Vegas I saw how one of the fancy restaurants aged their beef... in glass units. I was amazed at the shrinking in size and the length of time...over a month at like...38 degrees F. They actually scrub the green mold off the finest and most expensive aged cuts.

I de-bone, only use a knife, unless it is to cut the skull for the antlers. Leave the head on otherwise for the hawks, eagles, corvids and yotes to enjoy and for me to enjoy their photos. According to some literature, the threat of CWD is enhanced by cutting the bone. I haven't used a bone saw in 30 years.