AP deer hunter

to me "cull deer" is a mature deer with a messed up rack. take this deer my buddy shot. i don't see anything wrong with the term. but i definitely disagree with people calling a small buck they shot a cull deer cause theyre ashamed of them. NEVER be ashamed of your deer.

Davoh

to me a "cull deer" is anmature cowhorn spike(6-10 inches of curved antlers with no or only one branched tine).... but can also mean a large, sickly looking doe....

better term for the "lesser bucks" as Ive heard is "management deer"... because that is what they are.... Do I agree with the practice.... no... but the term is sufficiently accurate....

BigJ71

Oh, I would love to give my thoughts on this!

To me when I hear (or read) the term "Cull Buck" it means one thing and one thing only.......Big antlered deer. Very rarely is there a situation where a mature deer NEEDS to be taken out of the herd. Just because he has an inferior rack does not mean he is unhealthy or unable to breed.

This is what I'm talking about when I say there are those who preach QDM yet kill young and mature "cull bucks" and then say they are doing it "for the health of the herd". This has nothing to do with herd health and everything to do with antlers period!

Infact, cullingbuckscan hurt the herds if enough are killed, yet there are those who will do this justsothe odds are better that the next generation of bucks will sport perfect trophy racks, how insane is that?

To me it's simple, if you are "culling" bucks then you are trying to GROW big perfect antlered deer and as far as I'm concerned have no regard for the actual health of the herd. Then to add insult to injury some justify this in the name of QDM.

If you want a perfect herd of "booners" just put up a high fence and start a deer farm......

That felt good!

Rant over.

sd_buckeye

I personally would never shoot a buck and call it a "cull buck"... if i was going to shoot a small or deformed buck the label "cull" would not be on it. i think it is a term used by people who can't shoot anything nice so they feel bad shooting a small one so they feel better by saying they were improving the gene pool by taking him out. in reality many times it's all they ever saw...

Sliverflicker

I personaly love low fince QDM & TDM land, especially if the property is next to, or near Public Hunting Land!!! I love you guys, keep up the good work. In return for killing a trophy Buck that slips off their property from time to time, if I see a cull or management buck and I have 2 tags, I have no problem letting the air out of its lungs for them and me, and filling my freezer with it, thay taste good!! It's the least I can do. Plus I have never seen an ugly Buck on a Post card! I also have no problem blowing a tag on a sick or injured deerI know I cant eat. I love Big racks, I dont mean I like Big Racks, I mean, I LOVE BIG RACKS!! Ever since I seen My first one at 4 years old. I have 3 book size racks sitting in a chair next to the coutchwere I watch TV, and know what, I fondle them, thatswhat I said, I fondle them. No 2 are alike, works of art, each unique in there own way, each with there own story.Why should Iusemy tag on a 4pt opening week, when I can take a cull, a doe, or a Buck I feel big enough to spend the money on for mounting.Someone explane this to me please, because I dont get it.I could care less what someone else's standards are, for I'm sure thay feel the same as I do, I dont do it to displease you, I do it to please myself!! As far QDM & TDMgoes, I would much rather see a groop of Hunters practice QDMor TDM on their property, than have another Golf course or housing project go in. I could go on, but will leave you with this, Saturday My Wife killed abeautiful 8pt for this area of northern Mich, Yesterday we took it to the DNR to check it in and get her successfulDeer hunters patch. George (the deer check man) said it was the Biggest Buck checked in from this area, which tickled my wife. On the way home we stoped at the store andwhen we came out, 3 Hunters were standing there looking at my wifes buck, Thay also had a Spike on the roof of there Blaizer. We exchanged words politely as hunters do, and right befor thay turn to go in the storethe one that shot the spike says, (sarcastically), Thats a nice Buck, but ya know, ya can't eat horns! I look at my wife and start laughing, I Look back at the Guy and say, Really, can you eat the meat? Because hers has about a hundred more pounds of itthan yours dose. You could have fried an egg on his head! His buddies thought it was funny. QDMis a Good thing!Oh one last thing, seeing how some of you dont like the words cull, or management, just what would you like to replace them with?

iowabob85

Cull buck is a loosely used term not that in some instances it isn't a bad idea. Ihave only shot one deer that I thought would be inferior and when I actually got hands on him he was a very nice 1.5 year old with a broken off beam. Man I felt like a idiot. As for the deer in AP's photo that is not a cull deer in my opinion it looks more like a good 2 year old too me. Too bad he didn't get a couple more years but that is hunting. No matter what he is a nice buck and one I am sure the person was proud of.

gregholland

cull buck= whatever buck you don't want around messing up the gene pool.

wis_bow_huntr

A profesional hunter once told me that a cull buck is in the eye of the beholder. Any buck can be considered cull. But its up to us as hunters to decide.

nodog

It's a no brainer for me. I see it like this, 2 hunters, one will shoot most anything, the other a selective few. Why would hunter one ever get upset with hunter 2. To have hunter 2 go on and on about qdm should be music to hunter ones ears, if hunter one is willing to move around. What I don't get is why hunter 2 ever opens his mouth, yet many will almost give the gps coordinence to alltheir stand sites just to prove there right. If you asked hunter 2 out right where they were youmite notget the state.QDM threads often give a guy a great deal of info to help him narrow down where to begin looking in a new area. You want to know deer densities of an area, you want an idea of the type of deer in an area, QDM threads are a great place to look.

~Your tip of the week~

NCYankee

Okay, so some of you don't like the term "cull buck". What should they be called? I don't profess to be an expert hunter or tracker, but I have enoughvenison in my freezer to last until next season, and that's how it is every year! I think alot of people post info based on what they've read or heard from others, as opposed to having witnessed. My friend has a large (350 acres or so) farm in Western New York wherewe have "culled" many inferior bucks (all 2.5 years or older). We have witnessed the increase in the number of big-racked bucks for the last 22 years! I shot a largebuck with small, twistedthree to four inch high antlers the second day I was up there this year. It dressed out at 146 lbs. (we weighed it, that's not an estimate) and I ended up with about 75 lbs. of venison (okay, that's an estimate). After that I went trophy hunting and passed on several of the"clone" eight-points he has chasing does around his property. I saw, but didn't get a shot at, a twelve and two tens! There's nothing going up on the wall this year, but as I wrote earlier I have plenty in the freezer!
Now, I don't know what "the book" says, but this practice of culling seems to be working in Steuben County...and will continue to be for years to come!