"Culling Doesn't Work in Wild Populations"

[PondPopper]

Exactly. And that’s exactly correct exactly as you said it. Passing the best bucks has no genetic effect over the long haul on the genetic baseline.

So why all the fuss?

[Chuckfu]

All the deer on our place in Mason are native.Nothing brought in.With age and nutrition any deer heard can reach its full potential,our top deer seem to be topping out around 170 .we have been hunting it for twenty years

170” deer in Mason is amazing. Regardless of high fence or low fence in my opinion.

[Mjjust]

If you haven’t listened to the podcast linked in post 24 you owe it to yourself no matter what you think you know about culling. I listened and found it enlightening and will listen again as there is so much info. Much more than in the initial posted link. There have been tons of studies on culling going back to Kerr WMA but I think this is the only to collect and track all the DNA data from the deer. My biggest wow moment from the podcast was when he shared that antler size in a buck is NOT an indicator of antler size of its offspring. The dna evidence shows that a “trophy” buck can produce below average offspring on average while a “cull” buck may produce above average offspring. I think they called it a Breeding index and you can’t determine it without dna testing so there is no way to determine in the field visually. This study was also done under high fence controlled conditions. Quick take away from the study is unless you control which buck breeds with which doe and know the dna of each you can’t alter the genetics of your herd whether high or low fence. Concentrate on habitat, carry capacity, buck/doe ratio, supplemental feed and let them age and hope for rain. That’s how you get better bucks in the long run.

[Sticks&Strings]

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[jason86]

If you haven’t listened to the podcast linked in post 24 you owe it to yourself no matter what you think you know about culling. I listened and found it enlightening and will listen again as there is so much info. Much more than in the initial posted link. There have been tons of studies on culling going back to Kerr WMA but I think this is the only to collect and track all the DNA data from the deer. My biggest wow moment from the podcast was when he shared that antler size in a buck is NOT an indicator of antler size of its offspring. The dna evidence shows that a “trophy” buck can produce below average offspring on average while a “cull” buck may produce above average offspring. I think they called it a Breeding index and you can’t determine it without dna testing so there is no way to determine in the field visually. This study was also done under high fence controlled conditions. Quick take away from the study is unless you control which buck breeds with which doe and know the dna of each you can’t alter the genetics of your herd whether high or low fence. Concentrate on habitat, carry capacity, buck/doe ratio, supplemental feed and let them age and hope for rain. That’s how you get better bucks in the long run.

I’ve listened to it a couple times, I get something new out of it each tim I listen to it.