08/17/2025
Not to beat the topic of "culling" to death but I checked a camera yesterday and had these two bucks on it. Both of these photos were taken the same day. I know the better buck is a 3 yr old and I suspect the other one is as well (although admittedly he could be a 2yr old). Soooo ...
On most properties, the bigger of these two bucks gets shot this fall as a 3yr old and the lesser one lives to grow to 4, 5, or 6 yrs old. Along the way he breeds a few does each year. That is exactly the situation across most of the whitetails range today.
On my property, I will be trying to get the lesser buck killed this year (even if he is a 2yr old) and the better one is off-limits. When implementing a buck management program like this, there is no denying which buck will be bigger at maturity. We can argue or make excuses or quote biologists or internet experts or studies or whatever we want to do but it is undeniable that at maturity, the better 3 yr old in these photos is going to be better than the lesser one 99.99% of the time, provided both avoid injury or illness.
So lets just avoid the whole debate regarding genetics and stick with the facts. Protecting the best 3 year old bucks on a property while targeting the lesser ones, will result in bigger mature bucks down the road regardless of what impact it has on the local genetics. You (along with your neighbors) do have control over which bucks have a chance to reach maturity and which ones don't. These two photos do a great job of making a point that I try to drive home to my consulting clients.
