PaThomas Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 I've been hunting a new farm in TN for the past 2 seasons. Although we've seen a few nice bucks, we're also seeing alot of one antlered bucks. Some are first year bucks, while others appear to be 3-4 years old. Is this a genetic problem? Should we try to cull some of these out of the herd to keep them from breeding? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 26, 2011 Report Share Posted November 26, 2011 Welcome to the forums. Few things to probably consider. Does carry antler traits, possible if what you are seeing is genetic that killing bucks won't solve it. Are those one sided bucks results of injuries or are they antlers that grew that way. We see a few here every year that are injured during growing that are goofy on one side and that has nothing to do with genetics, also see a few every year that lose one side early from fighting, again nothing to do with genetics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaThomas Posted November 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2011 Ive been fortunate enough to get close to several and also captured some good head shots on camera and a couple have appeared to be broken, but most off them seem to just not be growing on mostly the left side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 welcome to the forum. weird genetic trait that i am not familiar with. I really dont think culling in a free ranging herd will be effective as 50% if those genes come from the mom. My guess is you have a good buck:doe ratio and getting lots of buck sparring. what you need to do is set out cameras next spring and summer as those bucks are growing their antlers and see if it is actually a genetic trait or are they losing the antlers from fighting. todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 yea todd is right it's a long and hard road to try and change genetics of free ranging deer by culling bucks. we've got a couple in the past that had no injuries to observe, yet had a nice rack on one side and say a spike on the other. set out cameras like has been said during the summer months to see if it's genetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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