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<blockquote data-quote="megalomaniac" data-source="post: 5551895" data-attributes="member: 2805"><p>What you are describing on those clubs is exactly what has happened to my properties... not because of what we kill, but because of what the neighbors kill. They consistently kill the top end 3.5y/o's each year because they hunt based on antler score (anything over 125 is fair game to them) instead of age. It's quite rare for the top end 3.5y/o's that we pass up to survive them because they hunt 50 or more days per year with 4-6 hunters each day. As a consequence, the vast majority of mature bucks are at the bottom end of the gene pool. And what's even crazier... they sure as heck aren't going to 'waste' one of their buck tags on a 100in buck, even if he is 5.5. Thank goodness out best 3.5y/o (around 135in) broke off 2 tines right at the start of the rut... so he made it through the season!</p><p></p><p>They may be starting to come around though... they have been watching us pass up those top end 3.5y/o's for years, seeing us limit ourselves to only 1 buck of choice annually, and their hunting cabin is slap full of 125in racks and they would like to now kill something bigger.</p><p></p><p>For me, even though I know those bottom end 3.5y/os will never make anything the following year, I just don't feel right about targeting them until they reach maturity. May be a good option to let the kids take them as their bonus/cull buck though. Having a few fully mature bucks provides a lot of benefits (pheromonal suppression or reduction of young bucks participating in the rut) even though there are some risks (mature bucks more likely to injure middle aged bucks)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="megalomaniac, post: 5551895, member: 2805"] What you are describing on those clubs is exactly what has happened to my properties... not because of what we kill, but because of what the neighbors kill. They consistently kill the top end 3.5y/o's each year because they hunt based on antler score (anything over 125 is fair game to them) instead of age. It's quite rare for the top end 3.5y/o's that we pass up to survive them because they hunt 50 or more days per year with 4-6 hunters each day. As a consequence, the vast majority of mature bucks are at the bottom end of the gene pool. And what's even crazier... they sure as heck aren't going to 'waste' one of their buck tags on a 100in buck, even if he is 5.5. Thank goodness out best 3.5y/o (around 135in) broke off 2 tines right at the start of the rut... so he made it through the season! They may be starting to come around though... they have been watching us pass up those top end 3.5y/o's for years, seeing us limit ourselves to only 1 buck of choice annually, and their hunting cabin is slap full of 125in racks and they would like to now kill something bigger. For me, even though I know those bottom end 3.5y/os will never make anything the following year, I just don't feel right about targeting them until they reach maturity. May be a good option to let the kids take them as their bonus/cull buck though. Having a few fully mature bucks provides a lot of benefits (pheromonal suppression or reduction of young bucks participating in the rut) even though there are some risks (mature bucks more likely to injure middle aged bucks) [/QUOTE]
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