knightrider said:
BSK said:
knightrider said:
tell me how he benifited? he is still a subpar buck that will pass on his part of the genetics. just as I stated before, the good young deer with potential are killed while subpar bucks die of old age while passing on their half of the genetics.
Who says smaller-antler bucks pass on "subpar" genetics? That has not been scientifically establish at all. In fact, they may be contributing little to nothing to their sons' antler sizes or shapes.
so your telling me you think a small 80 inch 3.5 year old deer isn't passing his genetics on to his son? then so tell me what is he passing to his off spring.
Two major points to consider knightrider:
First, how much of an 80-class 3 1/2 year-old buck's antler size is due to genetics? Probably very little. Almost no buck in the wild ever grows the antlers he is genetically capable of. Often a HUGE difference exists between genetic
potential and actual
expression (what a buck actually grows). In the wild, the stresses of life (breeding, fighting, fighting off diseases, seasonal nutritional stresses, social stresses, etc.) all reduce actual antler growth versus what a buck
could grow under optimal conditions. This can be shown by taking a buck out of the wild and raising him under optimal conditions. Invariably this produces a massive surge in antler growth. If a buck's current antler size is genetic, changing his living conditions would produce no changes in antler size. Unless a buck is raised in absolutely optimal conditions (and no buck in the wild is), and to full maturity, you cannot say what part of his antler size is genetic.
Second, we don't know how the genetics of antlers work. However, what we do know--from penned studies where who bred who (parentage) is tightly controlled--bucks do not produce male offspring with antlers that look anything like their father's, either in size or shape. That doesn't mean bucks are not providing genetic antler characteristics to their male offspring, it just means we can't determine what they are passing on yet. Until the genetic code for antlers is deciphered, we won't know how it all works.
The point being, you cannot alter the genetic make-up of a free-ranging deer herd. "Culling" bucks with a particular antler size or shape makes no difference in future antler production in the area. This has been tried in studies and found to be of no biological impact. In fact, it is often found to be of more harm than good, as removing bucks for dubious reasons simply means less bucks in the area (lower buck age structure and poorer adult sex ratio).
