I would like to manage the whitetail on my land.
Can someone help me define what a "Cull" buck is and when is a "spike " considered a deer that should be shot?

When we are talking about spike are we talking about yearlings with only one point on each side? Are you shooting the yearlings or waiting to see how they are around 2.5-3.5 years old?

If you have a 6 point 4.5 year old buck is that a cull?

How do you determine how many doe to take each year?

Thanks

First off you need to do a survey to see how many deer you have and what are the ratios. That is the first step. I would not kill any bucks till you have a survey to see what needs attention first. To many people want to manage the buck side of a deer herd before they address the other major issues needing attention first. The survey will tell you what you need to shoot off and how many you need to kill total. Good luck.

is a survey something I can do?
Do I need to hire a biologist?
Can I do it from game cameras or in field only?

How many acres do you have?

Contact you local TPWD biologist in your county. He can either help you do the survey ( just remember he is one man covering the whole county) or show you how and what to do as far as the survey. He can then write you a management plan and help you from then on. You can do the survey with game cameras by counting the number of different bucks you are seeing. Then do some in the field blind counts to set the buck to doe and doe to fawn ratios. Then use those number to figure your density and compare that to the spolight survey.

Thanks to all. I'll contact my county biologist,
I have about 150 acres near Kerrville
Lowfenced all around me. I'm basically hunting the four corners of my property since the adjacent properties do not get hunted much so I'm basically hunting 400-500 acres even though I'm only on 150 acres

I would not be concerned about killing any cull bucks so I could get as many mature bucks into the herd as you can. Once you get to many mature or to many bucks then start to take out the bottom end of each age class.

There are a lot of missing pieces to your puzzle that would be good to know like size property, deer density, buck:doe ratio,property's carrying capacity, livestock, exotics or other competitors for food, etc...A book or two could & have been written on your questions. I'll take a stab at the question about culls. A cull is in the eye of the beholder. On our place, almost any middle age deer or older with 9 or less points is a cull. We have a 3 yr old straight up 8 with a drop that we will let mature for example. Many places use 7 points or less as a rule. We are not in an AR county so middle age deer or older with spreads inside the ears are culls. We also generally cull bucks with short, or missing brow tines.

We typically don't have many spikes which I contribute to lower deer density and ample nutrition, thus my opinion is the few spikes we see are more likely late born fawns. Theories are many here, but I do feel like late born bucks that are yearling spikes will always be a year behind in antler development compared to their peers that were born earlier and thus are prime targets to cull. However, since our herd is not near carrying capacity, we can give them the benefit of the doubt and let them go, but if a guest wants some meat, I have no issues with a spike being taken. If your deer density is above carrying capacity, a spike should be the first defined cull buck as you need to get rid of as many deer as possible and these bucks are most likely behind their peers born the same year.

First though, I would seek the assistance of your county's wildlife biologist. He/she can help you determine deer density, buck doe ratio and the property's carrying capacity and provide you with recommendations on harvest based on your goals. Now many biologists are more focused on getting your herd to optimum ratios and within carrying capacity as opposed to improving trophy antlers, but they can give you a great start.

Once you and or your group decide on cull parameters, game cameras will help you to identify specific bucks to cull and will solidify for everyone what is and is not a cull.

Good Luck!

Long story short. Take the Does out and the bucks will get bigger. That small of a place will be impossible to manage. Ya never know what the other hunters are going to do across the fence.

Can you please explain the reasoning behind this to a newby?

Almost all of Texas has to many deer. Almost all of Texas has way more does than bucks. Taking does of will take of mouths which will leave more forage for the remaining deer. Fewer does can raise more fawns on good habitat vs. to many does on poor habitat. I have seen smaller places in the Hill Country do great things with management. It can work under the right conditions and right location.

Big-Ag, Great post buddy.

As far as what to shoot, James Kroll has a decent dvd about deer management.

Its worth a look. Not sure if it is gospel or not, but worth a look.

We've been living with that nightmare for about 14 years. The kill more doe theory. Maybe that's why we don't have many deer, at all.

We don't shoot any bucks until their at least 5 years old on our place. Shooting does is as just important also. Spikes get smoked if they are 3 yo

Put together 10,000 acres, then go see a state biologist. Pay the state an annual fee to get that area designated as a management area, then you can put together a management program where the state will help you in your efforts to manage the deer herd.

Other than that, just watch the bucks walking around on you and your neighbors un-hunted land, figure out which ones look pitiful (look at an old broke down horse vs a young horse for comparison) and take them out, based on the number of tags you have available...starting from the most pitiful ones. There are some good DVD's available that discuss age class "trophy" vs "cull", muscle structure of different age classes, etc. You will be well served to get some dvds and study the subject...it is very fascinating.

Then look at the barren does (old does that don't breed anymore)...again they will look pitiful... and take them out. Then start paying attention to a term called "fawn recruitment"....basically it is just a measurement of how many fawns survive out of the total born on your property. You may need to start varmint hunting or you may not. Personally, I varmint hunt on every property...coyotes, hogs, and lions love to eat deer fawns.

The basic idea of QDM is to establish a healthy breeding herd, by culling the old animals and the poor quality animals from the herd. Basically, you let your best bucks (herd bucks) walk so they can breed the does. And you take out anything that is not offspring of your best buck. To establish what size breeding herd you can have, you will need to determine what the carrying capacity of the land is (how many deer will it support.) If the carrying capacity of the land will not support the breeding herd you envision, you can improve the "forb base" of the property, as well as the "protein base" which will allow a higher deer density and over time improved deer antler quality.

Most of the genetic base in Texas, is pretty good. That said, age and nutrient deficiency are typically what prevents animals from attaining "trophy status". If you want a quick and dirty method of figuring out how to improve your land with plantings and what type of minerals to put out...just do some research on goats. Turns out that goats and deer need the same basic foods and nutrients in essentially the same amount on a per animal basis.

This information, combined with the other comments I read on your thread, will get you pointed in the right direction. Just remember this, you have to see your self as a herd manager and be willing to spend all your time culling and planting to improve the deer herd...the deer walking around should be the best deer you have and the ones you shoot should be the worst of the bunch....If done correctly, in 7 to 10 years you will be "culling" some very impressive deer...hope this information helps.

interesting

Never seen an old "barren" doe. Seen many that were ancient but still capable producing fawns. Seen one that was tagged on a LF ranch in South Texas for research in the mid 80's that will still alive and had twin fawns in 1998 and raise a single in 1999. If she was tagged as a doe fawn the last year of the project she was 14 yrs old minimum.
As stated above get with your TPWD biologist he can help you. Check with him to see if you are in a local WMA Coop. Then contact Kerr WMA up at Hunt and visit with them about genetics and habitat research work they are doing up there on the WMA.

As far as sitting in a blind and counting deer you see is not very affective nor is is it a proper way. Look up spot light counting Texas and read some of the TPWD articles and other counts for examples. They also have forms and directions on how to do a proper spot light count.

Although you do want nice mature bucks to be breeding it's also smart to take out the small old does. Does also play a big role in how a fawn turns out. Some people lose sight in that.

On a majority of deer leases, a cull buck is a buck that someone regrets shooting, so they call it a cull in hopes of getting to continue their hunt for a bigger deer.

I realize "you've got what you've got", but I can't see how trying to implement a management strategy on 150 LF acres could possibly have any long term results.

Thanks.

The kill a bunch of does theory fits most areas. It does not fit mine. We (previous owner and neighboring hunters) have had way too many does taken in the past years. My doe count was 1 per 100 acres four years ago while the buck count was 2.5 times that. This year the does have went to around 2 per 100 acres and the bucks are still sitting around 2.5, based on camera survey only. We will do a pass through in January. I think a lot of hunters tend to think does are better eating an easier to kill so let's shoot em without knowing the real ratio. If you are seeing lots of does, yes take them. But, don't automatically assume every are is reverse ratio on females.

Some of you have much more confidence in TPWD's biologists and management practices than I do. The title of "biologist" is used by many to imply that the person is an expert in all manners concerning wildlife. To some, a biologist working for TPWD must mean that he/she has all the right answers. However, being a TPWD biologist doesn't necessarily mean that the person is a whitetail deer expert. Are there some good TPWD deer biologists and managers? You better bet there are. Is every TPWD biologist a deer expert? No, far from it. Contrary to popular belief, every wildlife biologist is not a whitetail guru. Many of these biologists may have worked extensively with butterflies, turkey, horned toads or snakes and only having a general overview and limited working knowledge of whitetail deer. Yes, TPWD offers free advice to landowners, but free advice doesn't necessarily equate to sound advice. Take this with a grain of salt and use your best judgement.