Recap of 1st 2011 Bowhunt

Finally made my first bowhunt of the season. It’d been a long time coming – the longest I’ve had to wait in like 12 years. Per tradition, I failed to sleep the night before and had high hopes I’d bust that bruiser buck. The lock-on stand was in a prime location; I expected wheel back to the check station like a pro.

I’m not going to repeat the last couple of years and write about every unsuccessful hunt I embark upon. No need. Who wants to really read about someone NOT shooting something? Heck, anyone can do that! Even if I have just about mastered futility with a bow, that doesn’t mean I need to share with everyone.

Still, there are always lessons to learn, stuff to report, and experiences to chronicle. When the time is right, it’s probably OK to relate a few of these expeditions. So I do want to review last weekend’s hunt at Duette Park in Manatee County, though I once again came home with a full quiver and a cooler full of excuses.

- I know better, I know better, I know better than to take unproven gear afield. My regular release – the one I’ve used and loved for ten years – crapped out on me Wednesday. Long story short, I broke open the package to the new one Saturday morning and tested pulling back the string before I headed off to my stand. While lowering the string, I don’t know if my finger or a leafy flange off my suit tapped the trigger, but the string popped that dull, hollow thunk of a dry-fire. Panicked I’d jumped the string off the cams and ruined the hunt, I noticed my peep sight had come free. The release needed to be tightened – and was eventually. It could have been disastrous, however.

- A cold front that was supposed to push through the state hung up over south-central Florida. The switching winds made deer sightings in my hammock rather improbable. But my scent control really shined through. First, a very large boar splashed and rumbled out of the swamp and fed behind me. Later, a spike walked practically under the stand. Finally, a button buck fed unalarmed in front of me for 30 minutes while a wind blew on my neck and up his nostrils. Say what you will about small, young, dumb deer, the hog proved something was working. I’d argue they have the best olfactory senses in these parts.

I showered with scent-eliminating shampoo and washed my clothes in scent-eliminating detergent. I wore camp clothes on the ride down with the hunting garb in a trash bag. After suiting up, I sprayed down with Scent Killer and put one of those delicious Scent Wafers on my ballcap. You can’t always control the weather and wind but you can go a long way towards minimizing its attempts to scatter your stink throughout the woods. It's not fail-safe but worth the efforts.

- Speaking of the deer. This is the spike. It’s hard to see since I recorded this on the iPhone. And the video quality really ate it when uploaded to YouTube. He’s actually a little 3-point – naturally, Duette has a 4-point minimum. You can tell he caught me moving while I fiddled with the phone. He did calm down, circled back in front of me and ambled away feeding. By the way, I’m shaking because I’m turned around trying to film. It is NOT Buck Fever.



- And here’s the button buck. This guy was legal but he might have weighed 50 pounds. The Rage would have cut him in half. As badly as I want to fill a freezer, I gave him the pass. What a swell guy I am. Note he’s eating on the gallberry bushes. This is important...



- ...because there are very few acorns down here this year. I haven’t been kicking around too many properties yet this fall but noticed the same thing in Sarasota County earlier in the week. It is gonna be another one of those crazy years, I feel. Anyone else want to offer up an acorn report? Still time to adjust stand locations – but not much time.

- Saturday morning I felt something crawling up the inside of my facemask. I figured it was just another bat-sized mosquito that slid through the Therma-Cell’s defenses. I swiped it away and that was that. A couple minutes later the same sensation returned on the right side of my face. I slapped it harder this time and was rewarded with a sharp, burning pain behind my ear in that spot people put seasickness patches. I struggled to free myself of the mask as a scorpion fell onto my lap, tail lifted and jabbing, claws extended. I flicked him off - I hope he fell to his death and is burning in Arachnid Hell.

Scorpion stings feel like someone extinguished a cigarette on your skin. It burns and aches for about 20 minutes; then, thankfully, peters out. Being a marvelous physical specimen, I am not allergic to these bites. If you are, an Epi-Pen or antihistamine or notepad and pencil to record your last will and testament should be in your daypack.

- The biologist at the check station said the deer are just a tick off from a full-blown rut. Hunters have reported bucks seeking does, but few have been brought to the check station during archery. Dad did say one young man took a fine buck a couple weeks ago. Smaller bucks were taken this weekend. By the time I return with a muzzleloader, it should be on like Donkey Kong.




Hopefully we’ll have a success story, then.

The Trouble with Spikes and Culls II

This last fall I received an e-mail from an old hunting buddy and one of the finest outdoorsmen you’ll ever meet. It was a picture of a spike with a couple knobs off the main beams you could call tines, but “spike” would still be the proper categorization. The sender wrote that the deer had gray on its face so he must have been old, wouldn’t get any bigger, and needed to be shot. The deer, leggy and thin-necked, did not appear to be a veteran of many seasons by any means.

Don’t think I’ve not drank this Kool-Aid myself. Hey, when you’ve decided a buck’s antlers are puny because of an alleged deficiency, it’s not a far leap to conclude the rest of the deer’s body must be stunted too. I’ve whacked several bucks in earnest practice of skimming some scoundrel seed from the ol’ gene pool and have stood by and encouraged the death of several more miscreants deemed unworthy of procreating with my fine does.

Last time I wrote about the debate in deer camps regarding the harvesting of spike bucks. Now we’ll advance this concept to include so-called “cull bucks,” or animals whose antlers hunters believe possess a genetic deficiency that precludes them from growing perfect, trophy-quality racks. In theory, removal of these animals will sever their genetic influence from disseminating throughout the herd thereby assuring no spoiled apples, so to speak, in the future. Increasingly, this supposition is being argued as hooey.

Two resources have brought this issue into focus for me. The first is an episode of QDMA Quality Whitetails TV on the Outdoor Channel about the effectiveness of harvesting spikes and culls on trophy potential. Wildlife biologist, Joe Hamilton, discussed three factors that affect antler growth: age, nutrition, and genetics.

Mr. Hamilton suggests hunters “put genetics on the shelf.” Hunters and game managers are more capable of controlling the age structure of their herd and improving nutrition than manipulating genetics, saying that DNA’s influence on antler development is “overrated.”

Another veteran deer biologist, Al Brothers, discussed the debate over shooting spikes and posits two questions managers must consider before incorporating a spike or cull buck harvest program:

1. What are your herd conditions, such as buck-to-doe ratio, age structure, deer density, recruitment rate?

2. What degree of control do you have over what’s taken and not taken?

Analyzing the first question, Mr. Brothers addresses, in a round about way, if there’s not a better way to grow antlers. In a simplified explanation, if the buck-to-doe ratio, deer density and recruitment rate is too high, the elimination of does will increase browse, supplying more nutrition for antler development. If a deer herd is too young, hunters may not be observing the full potential in the area.

The second question is particularly salient for anyone who manages deer. If one elects to let a buck walk, what assurances are there that this patience will pay off in the future? Smaller leases and properties routinely run into this issue. Hunters may not realize the fruits of their labor if those surrounding them do not engage in similar management goals. Educating and convincing neighbors about a deer management mission could go a long way towards establishing a healthy, trophy-producing herd.

The second resource is an excellent article by Wildlife Biologist Chris Cook I saved from the December 2008 edition of Woods ‘n Water. The thrust of Mr. Cook’s argument posits that there’s insufficient research, knowledge, and understanding of whitetail genetics to justify culling bucks as an effective trophy management practice.

Mr. Cook brings a fresh argument to the table – the genetics of a doe have just as much, if not more, influence on the health of their fawn as the sire. How can you judge trophy potential from a slickhead? Additionally, he wonders how thousands of years of breeding will be erased in a few seasons by hunters?

So what causes one young buck’s antlers to blossom into those that give us the nervous sweats in the stand, while another’s poke straight up like daggers, or are broken and jagged like a hockey player’s smile?

Mr. Cook states lack of nutrition is one factor, but physical injuries to the animal may cause abnormal or underachieving antlers as the body focuses on repair. Drought and environmental factors influence growth. Also, damage to the pedicles, or the soft, growing bases of the antler, will cause malformed horns that can take a year or two to mend. Regardless, numerous variables influence antler growth and may actually stunt inherent genetic potential.

What does all this mean to game managers who’ve allowed this concept of cull bucks to seep into our culture? It means, and yes I quote Yoda, we must unlearn all we have learned. It is certainly true some bucks just won't grow B&C antlers; however, they should be allowed to age a few years before making this determination. Those big ranches in Texas that offer management hunts aren't serving up 2 year old spikes and raghorns. They are 5-6 year old bucks that have maxed out their antler potential, and are approaching the back side of their prime breeding years. At that point, it's not that much different than eliminating a few does to improve browse. Learning to age deer is the key, and the old-school methods - gray hairs, thick pedicles, just saying it's old to salve the conscience - won't cut it. The proliferation of trail cameras will be a big help in coming years. Also, I'd recommend taking jawbones of all harvested buck to the local biologist for aging.


It appears hunters can do very little to influence the genetics of a herd and may do more harm in their quest than good. Improving browse and nutrition through fertilizing procedures, supplemental feeding, controlled burns, amongst other methods, while working to reduce the number of does in the herd is recognized as the standard for growing big racks. This and allowing younger bucks - even spikes and culls - to walk will pay off in the future when seeking that wallhanger.

The Trouble with Spikes and Culls I

Harvesting a spike buck remains one of the most controversial topics around campfire - and otherwise uncivil - deer management discussions. Most people accept shooting does as a responsible practice, and hunters on trophy leases tend to agree on an 8pt minimum for bucks.

But spikes are different. Hunters as a group have difficulty coming to agreement on when or if they should be culled from the herd. Some hunters believe every one of them should be removed to prevent the spread of genetic inferiority throughout the population. Others characterize all spikes as being young (the devil horned deer) or all spikes as being old, having seen their better days antler-wise (the cowhorn). Each argument can be backed by a large number of scientific or pseudo-scientific reports easily accessible on the Internet.

What do I think? I think there is probably a little of truth in all of these theories. I’ve seen a couple legitimately ancient bucks with little spikes, and seen very young deer taken by hunters who rationalize that their horns will never get any better. If I had to lean to one side, I think many hunters shoot spikes under this latter category of thought.

The trick is telling the difference between the two; however, how can the average hunter correctly age these bucks? I get a kick out of some of these hunting TV shows or magazine articles that stiffly look down on hunters who shoot deer under the magical 5 ½ year old mark. I’m sure it is easier for guys who hunt manicured food plots in wide open Illinois and Iowa, or Loaded With Bucks, Texas, to have the time and numerous opportunities to discern an older deer from a younger one. Someone hunting a property where visibility is measured in tens of yards, not hundreds, and may only see a couple deer a year is not likely to have this time. And in fact, if that hunter spends precious seconds trying to determine the deer’s age, the experience will probably translate into a missed opportunity and unpunched tag. Many shoot first and ask questions later - or ground check, as it’s known in many circles.

The number of places where this style of hunting exists is shrinking, though. State agencies around the nation and managers of private lands are increasingly tightening the rules on how big a buck must be for harvest. The penalties for shooting undersized deer are pretty severe, keeping responsible hunters from pulling the trigger too hastily, which is really the proper way to operate anyhow. Still, private game managers want bigger deer. Public land people often want more deer, and hunters reporting increased numbers of spikes enhances the perception of the hunting quality on that land. Thus, antler restrictions have become a popular tool in manipulating a deer herd.

Just for definition’s sake, let’s say that the goal of any property is to maximize antler potential by restricting the harvest of young deer and removing genetically inferior “cull bucks.” Certainly there are other elements to consider when diagnosing the health of a herd, but these two common objectives are difficult to obtain in the field with hunters of various experiences and sets of standards.

For example, I have a 2 ½ year old, 220lb 8pt on my wall that is an excellent buck now, but there is no telling now how big it may have grown had it avoided my Summit climber that November. Based on his behavior and size at the time, I guessed he’d go 3 ½ to 4 years. But I was glassing through the pines, bucks in this area are notoriously nocturnal, and there stood the biggest buck I'd seen in Georgia up to that point. Bang!


Under the theory that bucks should be 5 ½ years before harvest, I screwed up huge. He certainly was big enough to satisfy the rules of the club, but I’ve been reminded time and again that I should have let this buck go. In Kansas, I probably would have. In Georgia where the bucks are spooky, come out of nowhere and return there in a hurry, he is going to the ground every time.

The same year I took this buck, I was forced by club rules to pass on an assortment of spike and ragged horn bucks. To my best guess, they ranged from 1-3 years old; however, their antlers came nowhere close to the 8pt’s, and I doubt they ever would. But I messed up judging the 8pt so how do I know if my opinion is worth anything on these deer?

This is the purpose of antler restrictions - especially on privately managed land. If you have an 8pt that meets or exceeds a 15 inch spread, it’s not likely that deer is getting any smaller in the coming years. Then you have an assortment of misfits that may or may not become anything in the coming seasons. What you don’t want is a paying hunter or club member to tell you how experienced they are and leave it to them to dictate what a cull buck may be or declaring that any smaller buck that doesn't sport a symmetrical basket rack should head to the cooler.

We often have to live with the knowledge that antlers usually aren’t a great indication of age or trophy potential. A decent number of supposedly genetically inferior deer will be allowed to walk in a given season, while some future bruisers are going to be taken too early. It’s the nature of the business in a lot of places.

I’m not really sure if any management system - outside of large private ranches see: Texas - can adequately balance the health of a herd and the needs of the hunters. Too restrictive of a plan on WMA’s and hunters will go elsewhere and game departments will lose money. Too relaxed of a plan will result in a high, unhealthy harvest of young deer.

So what should you take from all of this? Public land and hunt club game managers have their hands tied when trying to realize everyone’s goals whether it is managing a deer herd or satisfying hunters’ desires. If you don’t want to be on a lease or hunt a game plantation that institutes antler restrictions, look elsewhere. If you hunt public land and see a spike and it’s legal to harvest, pull that trigger and don’t apologize to anyone.


As for me, well, I know I’ve not shot my last spike – by accident or otherwise - but I need more of a reason to do so than in the past. The doe season in Florida has been lengthened, and the other southern states have very liberal doe harvests. They are typically better on the dinner plate anyhow, and I know they won’t be growing any large antlers in the future.