megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Nope, not on my farms. You only get 1 buck tag
Cull buck?
- Thread starter timberjack86
- Start date
A 6.5 year old deer is a trophy in most anybody's book regardless of inches of antler. If the deer wasn't up to your standards why did you shoot him?
I don't want to speak for HH but pretty sure he's saying he killed him because he was a mature deer not what rack he had.
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
Absolutely!I agree!
I'm confused. Are we discussing the definition of cull, or whether it's good practice or not? I see a lot of pretentious finger pointing but nobody has yet to provide a sensible argument against culls. "I'm a meat hunter" isn't good enough. Culls get eaten, too.
If your goal is a mature buck, which you got, you didn't kill a cull.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
As far as free-roaming deer in Tennessee are concerned,
the term is mostly just misused,
and has more typically become a faux justification
for one hunter's killing of a buck which had antlers not measuring up
to some pre-stated standard.
I avoid using the word here just because it is so misused.
On intensely managed deer herds, such as are commonly seen mainly on large Texas ranches, a better term may be "management" buck. There, the minimum age for defining one is usually 4 1/2, so regardless what we call them, most are considered on the young side of mature.
IMO, any mature buck should be considered a prized trophy buck,
simply because of his age.
Those who focus more on antlers, instead of age, will kill off most of their best antlered bucks before those bucks reach maturity. This antler "high grading" can result in most mature TN bucks (almost everywhere there is deer hunting) to have smaller antlers than most TN 3 1/2-yr-old bucks.
the term is mostly just misused,
and has more typically become a faux justification
for one hunter's killing of a buck which had antlers not measuring up
to some pre-stated standard.
I avoid using the word here just because it is so misused.
On intensely managed deer herds, such as are commonly seen mainly on large Texas ranches, a better term may be "management" buck. There, the minimum age for defining one is usually 4 1/2, so regardless what we call them, most are considered on the young side of mature.
IMO, any mature buck should be considered a prized trophy buck,
simply because of his age.
Those who focus more on antlers, instead of age, will kill off most of their best antlered bucks before those bucks reach maturity. This antler "high grading" can result in most mature TN bucks (almost everywhere there is deer hunting) to have smaller antlers than most TN 3 1/2-yr-old bucks.
Be sure and say you smoked him when you shoot that cull buck
ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER
Well-Known Member
I just want to kill mature deer as well, sometimes it goes good and this season is not going good. I am sure hillbilly was set on something different but knew that if he had the opportunity he would take the mature. I don't call anything a cull anymore unless it's a mature buck.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Kill what you want, call it what you want, no point arguing someone's opinion. Fwiw, does contribute just as much to the genetics being passed in in an area, good or bad.
Last edited:
arkwaterfowler
Well-Known Member
i think the OP is saying a lot of hunters us cull as an excuse to shoot a spike or subpar 2.5.
You gotta toss in "dirt nap" when you walk up to it
The only thing I "cull" nowadays are fish and I really don't do that much anymore since I stopped fishing tournaments.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
The best thing about owning your own land is you get to call a 'cull' a 'cull', you get to set harvest standards for the property, and what anyone else thinks doesn't mean squat 
On my properties, you get 1 buck per year... you pick it. I don't restrict anyone based on age or antlers. But pull the trigger, and you're done hunting for the year. Because of this restricted buck harvest, we typically have an excellent buck age structure. With multiple mature bucks roaming, most adult hunters became even more selective than just killing a mature buck. In fact, all adult hunters weren't going to kill something unless is was mature PLUS 125" or so or better. It's just became too easy to kill ANY mature buck, and season ended before rifle even started.
But that presented a new set of problems. The mature bucks that had subpar antlers were being passed up year after year. Those 5.5 and 6.5 y/os were often times the most agressive bucks causing injuries to the up and coming 3.5 yo's... sometimes lethal injuries. Sure, we managed to get kids on them occasionally, but for the most part, neither us nor the neighbors were killing mature bucks under 120". The neighbors were happily killing two 130" 3.5 y/o's annually each however.
So that's when I went to my management strategy with a twist about 5 years ago... 1 'buck of choice'.... you pick it, PLUS you also get 1 'cull' buck per year. I own the land, my rules, my definition. My hunters know a 'cull' is a 4.5 y/o that scores less than 120" with an intact rack (broken beams or points do not count as a cull). I have a list of 'cull' bucks that I've aged from trail camera photos that everyone has access to. If a buck a hunter thinks meets the definition of 'cull' shows up (4.5 y/o, less than 120"), but I have not captured on camera, the hunter can shoot it as his 'cull' and not count as his 'buck of choice', but they have to save the jawbone and I will age it. If the jawbone shows less than 4.5yo wear pattern, it becomes their 'buck of choice' and they lose their 'buck of choice' tag the following year.
For many, this sounds ridiculously restrictive. But I can promise you, every single person who hunts my farms LOVES it, and my neighbors love it even more.
On my properties, you get 1 buck per year... you pick it. I don't restrict anyone based on age or antlers. But pull the trigger, and you're done hunting for the year. Because of this restricted buck harvest, we typically have an excellent buck age structure. With multiple mature bucks roaming, most adult hunters became even more selective than just killing a mature buck. In fact, all adult hunters weren't going to kill something unless is was mature PLUS 125" or so or better. It's just became too easy to kill ANY mature buck, and season ended before rifle even started.
But that presented a new set of problems. The mature bucks that had subpar antlers were being passed up year after year. Those 5.5 and 6.5 y/os were often times the most agressive bucks causing injuries to the up and coming 3.5 yo's... sometimes lethal injuries. Sure, we managed to get kids on them occasionally, but for the most part, neither us nor the neighbors were killing mature bucks under 120". The neighbors were happily killing two 130" 3.5 y/o's annually each however.
So that's when I went to my management strategy with a twist about 5 years ago... 1 'buck of choice'.... you pick it, PLUS you also get 1 'cull' buck per year. I own the land, my rules, my definition. My hunters know a 'cull' is a 4.5 y/o that scores less than 120" with an intact rack (broken beams or points do not count as a cull). I have a list of 'cull' bucks that I've aged from trail camera photos that everyone has access to. If a buck a hunter thinks meets the definition of 'cull' shows up (4.5 y/o, less than 120"), but I have not captured on camera, the hunter can shoot it as his 'cull' and not count as his 'buck of choice', but they have to save the jawbone and I will age it. If the jawbone shows less than 4.5yo wear pattern, it becomes their 'buck of choice' and they lose their 'buck of choice' tag the following year.
For many, this sounds ridiculously restrictive. But I can promise you, every single person who hunts my farms LOVES it, and my neighbors love it even more.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
And what's more... you would think hunters might be discouraged about being tagged out after just 1 buck. But nope, everyone is thrilled with the buck they chose to shoot, because THEY made the decision.
A great example, my son shot this 2.5 yo buck as his buck of choice. The following morning, he had this 4.5yo buck tending a doe in front of him for 15 minutes and couldn't shoot him. I asked him if he had any regrets, he said no, he was thrilled with his buck and just enjoyed watching the big buck tending the doe 75yds away.
Incidentally, the 4.5yo in the trail cam pic was passed by one of my friends during ML... just wasn't quite what he was looking for, didn't have the 'wow' factor to him
A great example, my son shot this 2.5 yo buck as his buck of choice. The following morning, he had this 4.5yo buck tending a doe in front of him for 15 minutes and couldn't shoot him. I asked him if he had any regrets, he said no, he was thrilled with his buck and just enjoyed watching the big buck tending the doe 75yds away.
Incidentally, the 4.5yo in the trail cam pic was passed by one of my friends during ML... just wasn't quite what he was looking for, didn't have the 'wow' factor to him
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i let small yearling ones walk if i have one in the freezer, but meats meat!
Please explain what a cull buck is.
In the 80s a cull buck was any buck with at least a 3in or more of antler on him.If i remember right you could kill 10 bucks in unit A and you could go to unit B and kill 1 more buck.They were all cull bucks back then.Never heard of cull in the 80s
Cheshire
Well-Known Member
I don't have a problem with people hunting however they want. Just make a clean kill and no excuses
Omega
Well-Known Member
I don't have a management plan. I shoot what I want, and the younger ones seem to taste better. The only thing I would "cull", is a sick or injured deer. I just try and make sure they are over 100 lbs, so when I send these to a processor for my friends, it is worth their money. For me, a young one, out of spots, is my goal.
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