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Tennessee Hunting Forums
Quality Deer Management
Looking for buck high-grading
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<blockquote data-quote="megalomaniac" data-source="post: 5657320" data-attributes="member: 2805"><p>Last year on the main farm, 6 out of 7 mature bucks were shot (3 by us, 2 by neighbors, 1 by another neighbor that went unrecovered and survived), the 7th mature buck we passed on, as he was around 120in (too nice to be a cull, but noone wanted to shoot him as their 'buck of choice'). So above long term average. But yes, between us and the neighbors, we average 60% of mature bucks being removed annually. There is a LOT of hunting pressure in this 1500 acre area. There are pockets of impenetrable cover to hold deer, but those pockets are interspersed amongst more open ground, which makes the deer more visible during the rut as they move from pocket of cover to another pocket of cover during daylight. Plus, we don't hunt at all until right at the prerut, so they have had no hunting pressure.</p><p></p><p>Buck age structure plateaued out about 2 or 3 years ago, but we are running around 10-12% mature bucks. But the difference in my place and yours is that our bucks will routinely live until 6.5 if not shot by hunters, and we have had one 7.5y/o and one 8.5y/o. Perhaps the decline in younger buck antler scores is due to the number of mature bucks during the summer. My buddy went scouting yesterday evening checking out the bachelor groups, and he thought of the 12 bucks he saw in 2 groups, 4 were mature (small sample size)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="megalomaniac, post: 5657320, member: 2805"] Last year on the main farm, 6 out of 7 mature bucks were shot (3 by us, 2 by neighbors, 1 by another neighbor that went unrecovered and survived), the 7th mature buck we passed on, as he was around 120in (too nice to be a cull, but noone wanted to shoot him as their 'buck of choice'). So above long term average. But yes, between us and the neighbors, we average 60% of mature bucks being removed annually. There is a LOT of hunting pressure in this 1500 acre area. There are pockets of impenetrable cover to hold deer, but those pockets are interspersed amongst more open ground, which makes the deer more visible during the rut as they move from pocket of cover to another pocket of cover during daylight. Plus, we don't hunt at all until right at the prerut, so they have had no hunting pressure. Buck age structure plateaued out about 2 or 3 years ago, but we are running around 10-12% mature bucks. But the difference in my place and yours is that our bucks will routinely live until 6.5 if not shot by hunters, and we have had one 7.5y/o and one 8.5y/o. Perhaps the decline in younger buck antler scores is due to the number of mature bucks during the summer. My buddy went scouting yesterday evening checking out the bachelor groups, and he thought of the 12 bucks he saw in 2 groups, 4 were mature (small sample size) [/QUOTE]
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Quality Deer Management
Looking for buck high-grading
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