Stanley wrote:headgear wrote:Stanley wrote:In my opinion genetics has little to do with producing big bucks. I call it luck of the draw for a buck to produce a world class rack. Big bucks are freaks of nature not the norm.
I don't know Stan, I might say genetics are the most important element to growing a world class deer. Without them all the food and age in the world isn't going to mean a whole lot. Your freaks of nature comment applies here, they don't get to be freaks of nature without those genes.
If you think about what is involved in growing a big rack, genetics plays the smallest part. Not all genetically superior bucks grow big racks. Not all older bucks grow big racks. Not all bucks that have nutrition rich diets grow big racks. Not all healthy bucks grow big racks. It takes a combination of these things for a buck to be lucky enough to grow a big rack. These bucks are the freaks of the herd not the norm. Now, the more bucks in the herd the better the chance that one will be a freak and produce a huge rack.
We also cant forget about the throw back genetics that could produce a big rack in an inferior genetic pool. You have runts which are also freaks of nature as well as giants that are freaks of nature. This is why in my opinion genetics is on the bottom of the list. You can't grow many big racks on a bark and leaf diet. The Midwest is considered the geographical area to kill a good buck. The Midwest also happens to be one huge food plot. The areas with the biggest buck populations produce the most big bucks.
You can see this even on a smaller scale from county to county within a state. The southern states all have good genetics but produce very few large racked bucks. I think this should be considered evidence that genetics are not what it takes to produce large racked bucks. The southern states lack nutrition to produce large rack bucks consistently. In my opinion the perfect storm is; nutrition/age/buck numbers/health/freaks/geographical area/luck of the draw/genetics, put these things together and you might get a world class rack.
I agree partially Stanley. The buck numbers is a sticking point, it doesnt work a lot of times. Ive seen numerous cases where a smaller rack, bully buck takes over an area and pushes out your target from the locals (even boone class). Not to mention the other social stresses identified in several studies. It is tough to "stack" nice bucks on properies. The best bucks are generally not fighters based on my experience. They have clean racks almost every year. The social component is HUGE!
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