I've killed one management buck in my hunting career because management wanted bucks for testing. I told myself I woukd only kill one if it was mature and late in the season. I shot this buck on Jan 1 three years ago. I believe he was at least 4.5 years old. My point is how do you tell paying members with 2 buck tags that they should kill management bucks? And, what if they kill a 100 inch 3.5 year old and say it was a management buck in their mind?
Although this may seem like management overkill, for properties where I've implemented a management buck program, I produce an actual photo montage of the management bucks to kill if you see one, as well as a
PLEASE DO NOT KILL montage, which are very top-end 2 1/2s and 3 1/2s that have the greatest potential to be serious trophies at maturity. These photo montages are printed and hung in every shooting house. I want hunters to have looked at these pictures so they are not suddenly shocked by a big-racked buck and quickly pull the trigger without thinking about age. I want them - upon seeing the buck - to be able to say, "Oh, I recognize that guy. He's on the DO NOT shoot list." In the same vein, I want them keenly seeking the management bucks.
Of course, this requires a full photo census to know "who is out there." But if I'm going to implement a management buck program, I'm only going to do so when I have that data. In fact, I need that data to determine if a management program is even warranted. Am I seeing the signs of high-grading? In some situations, yes. In others, no.
And before someone asks, the
least likely situation to see high-grading is the scenario of a financially successful guy who buys 300-400 acres for he and his kids to hunt one. He is far more serious about hunting than his kids. Between all the members of the family, they kill 3 bucks a year. That type of harvest density and property size is unlikely to produce high-grading, as "new" bucks will filter into the property fairly regularly. The
most likely scenario to see high-grading is a 1,000-1,200 acre club with 8-10 hunters all "big buck" minded. With that kind of hunting pressure on a property that is not seeing quite as many new bucks filtering in, killing the top 2-4 3 1/2 year-old bucks year after year is very likely to produce high-grading.