re: Check out this buck's range - Mississippi Delta "update"

that little patch of CRP he lives in below Tranyslvania is tiny. I've been there to watch deer. Huge herd.

A buck with a hard dick will go places where a buck with a loaded gun will not.

That explains why I have 150's in the spring and summer and 110's in the fall and winter... Grrrr..

Maybe he just through he was abducted by aliens and needed to find a new place to hide?

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every gun on your place can accurately age a deer on the hoof

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Anyone that says they can do this is wrong. Even the professionals can't do this accurately.

Read an article about a QDMA researcher that had put his hands on around 1500 bucks I believe and he said he was wrong more times than not. Most of these deer he had seen in person and/or pictures of multiple times. He would guess the age and when the buck was either darted or harvested, he would age their teeth. He said he was +/- two years in his guess many times over.

People that say they can do this are idiots. That's why I would never be part of a "club" that says you have to age the deer correctly.

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I think they are using it on over populated areas too. The areas that have good buck:doe ratios, but the heard is just too large

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Not arguing with you but this just isn’t true of the vast majority of land in MS, if it’s true of your place then I have a rifle and three weeks vacation a year, sup.

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can see the late bloomer argument, but what are the chances of a late bloomer reaching 150”. I could be wrong, but it has to be slim to none

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This is the least understood part of it and the biggest point of contention. Their assertion was you don’t know until 3.5 and really more like 4.5 how a buck compares within his cohort, but if you’ve made up your mind there’s nothing else you can do to improve habitat and have to reduce the number of mouths to feed it might as well be the ones that need to make a leap. Some would have if you left them to grow, and some of your above average bucks will show to have peaked early, but in general you’re letting the bucks you like eat the food.

What would be news to me is if they carried this logic over to spikes, as they’re very careful to say best case you’re shooting a 3.5 to save what he would have ate to get to 5.5. Then it begs the question, is he a below average 3.5 or a stud 2.5? Can bubba and his $100 scope tell when he trots across a lane? If there’s something that could put more food on the property, is it worth guessing?

My biggest problem with the shooting spikes under 2” could easily be the difference between a buck that was born in may and a buck that was born late from the secondary rut in June or July. One is 10 months old when antlers start developing, and the other is 8 months old. That’s a 20% difference in age, not to mention that a smaller younger deer probably had a harder time surviving through deep freezes like the one we had in the spring. So essentially it could “stunt” their development.

I can buy the lower 30% argument, but i think it would have to be done when they are 2.5+ Years of age. This would ensure that they had the same opportunities to develop their rack , with age being less of a factor.

I would be very interested, thanks. I’m by no means a biologists, but the nature of my profession makes me over analytical/observant. We lease 2900 acres so i would love to see different management methods.