Let me say up front that I am completely aware that you can't genetically engineer a wild deer herd, so in no way does concern for passing on genes influence this discussion on my part.
A number of years ago I started making a conscious effort to pass up 2 year old bucks, figuring that is the most important age class to protect in order to have older good bucks. But one thing that I've noticed is that there are always some 2 year old bucks that are way behind the curve in antler size....so, do these bucks ever catch up?
My hunch is that they don't. So, is there any benefit to keeping them around? Don't they just consume resources that could go to other deer?
To qualify, where I hunt there are 50 deer per square mile and you get three buck tags. I rarely use more than one and always shoot a lot of does.
I'm saying this is the direction I want to go in, but I am curious as to what are the arguments for and against low grading 2 year old bucks.
A number of years ago I started making a conscious effort to pass up 2 year old bucks, figuring that is the most important age class to protect in order to have older good bucks. But one thing that I've noticed is that there are always some 2 year old bucks that are way behind the curve in antler size....so, do these bucks ever catch up?
My hunch is that they don't. So, is there any benefit to keeping them around? Don't they just consume resources that could go to other deer?
To qualify, where I hunt there are 50 deer per square mile and you get three buck tags. I rarely use more than one and always shoot a lot of does.
I'm saying this is the direction I want to go in, but I am curious as to what are the arguments for and against low grading 2 year old bucks.