QuoteOriginally posted by CDorton:
 

QuoteOriginally posted by KentuckyTJ:
Well because there is a 1/1 ratio on this farm and there are quit a much better options to spread their seed.

Fair enough. I've always been interested in what the effects of a 1/1 ratio would be on the rut. I would think stiffer competition would make for a more intense rut. I've never been fortunate enough to experience a 1/1 ratio though. [/b]

Yes, pre-rut is fantastic but then they shut down. Once the does are all bred the bucks do leave for a week or so. But having them stay for 11 months out of the year is a better alternative in my eyes. Our season begins the first weekend in Sept and I can hunt them for two and a half months before they leave and then again in December and January.

QuoteOriginally posted by Keith Zimmerman:
So wouldn't it be beneficial if there were a couple more bucks to get the big boys out from hiding more to compete and become vulnerable?

No, we have a 1/1 ratio and the management plan is to have the right bucks. I would have killed that deer either of the past two years if I would have had a crack at him. In turn I choose to pass on the 120" two year old with good mass and long tines. If that deer I found dead stays, he breds and also will run off one or several much better young deer. We have great numbers and half the deer I see while hunting are bucks for three months out of our hunting season.

         

         

 

 

Very cool!
 

Can't argue with those results...lol

Even the worms have to eat.

It's just a hard look at the natural cycle of life that befalls some.

Would it have been seen any differently if it had been "just a doe"?...not in my eyes.

Just one person's opinion.

God bless,Mudd

While it's said you can't eat the antlers, I've found that you can drink to them for a lifetime of deer seasons.        :D

I do want to say...You will never hear me tell anyone they shouldn't kill any deer they choose. They are all trophy's. Look at my tag line. This is just the way I choose to hunt.

Did you age the teeth? Was he 3 years old?

I didn't Bob, but he isn't any older than three. With his sharp teeth and a small 7.5" skull from eye socket to nose I really think he was two. Our mature bucks are in the 8" range.

From the picture, I was thinking 3 max by the body but he could be 2 in a great area. You've obviously got a pretty special area there. My old school buddy now lives in northern KY and hunts both southern Ohio and KY and he constantly sends my trail cam pics similar you yours. Good luck!

Man come November your torturing me TOM! Awesome pics

Thanks Bob. 80% of Kentucky isn't this way as most is very heavily rifle hunted. We are lucky to have a few farms surrounding that are passing on younger bucks also which is what it takes. Farm will be all in soybeans this year so looking forward to that. Last two years it was solid corn that wasn't picked until the end of season. That helps to keep them alive as well, but makes it very tough on a hunter as they stay in there and don't like coming out.

Tom, I applaud you for your management skills and I am right there with you that one was a great management buck. I am heavily involved in deer management on my hunting properties as well. While we don't strive for 1:1 ratio we follow QDM restrictions and pass on any deer under 3.5 years old, doe or buck. Proper management relies on very strong self control to pass on young deer with great potential, but as I am sure you know the rewards of letting them walk produce some truly monster deer. Keep up the good work! SS

QuoteOriginally posted by silent sniper:
Tom, I applaud you for your management skills and I am right there with you that one was a great management buck. I am heavily involved in deer management on my hunting properties as well. While we don't strive for 1:1 ratio we follow QDM restrictions and pass on any deer under 3.5 years old, doe or buck. Proper management relies on very strong self control to pass on young deer with great potential, but as I am sure you know the rewards of letting them walk produce some truly monster deer. Keep up the good work! SS

Well said, and I agree. The only reason I questioned you wanting him gone was because to me, he had potential, and I don't think I could drop the string on him. But if you have bucks with more potential that's great! I hunt public so I don't have a situation like that.

CDorton, I understand. Our typical KY buck herd tends to have short tines and that being the case I have come to like deer with looooong tines. Grass is always greener right?

However culling bucks due to antler genes is hard for me to swallow. I learned from raising bird dogs that half or more of the passed on genes come from the female. So I am not looney about killing what I think are inferior bucks. But if one walks to close I will take a crack at him simply for those reasons even though we only get one buck tag.

Tom, please send your "cull" bucks past my treestand lol.  At 2 1/2 they should be prime table fare.        

oh way cool deer kentuckyTJ

That's true Charlie. It is a shame the meat was consumed by the coyotes and buzzards and not me that's for sure.

Love seeing your pic Tom! Your results speak for themselves. Good luck this year, the soybeans should help with sightings  

I know more than a few people who would pay to have problems like that!

"We hunt because we enjoy it. How you get that enjoyment is for you to decide."

Great tag line and that pretty much sums it up.  In my home state of MI there's a lot of debate about point restrictions and Quality Deer Management properties.  I'm sure TJ works awful hard year round to earn his 'success' that to many seems envious.  I learned years ago by taking thirty hours of golf instruction from a PGA teaching pro that I could never be a zero handicap golfer, because I didn't have the time to practice all that I needed to, even though I 'knew how to shape a shot', whether it needed to be a draw or fade.

Congratulations on success as you've defined it TJ and sharing your successes and knowledge with the rest of us.