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John's Journal... Entry 130, Day 1 THE SUPER GENE Do Monster Bucks Produce Monster Bucks? EDITOR'S
NOTE: What role does genes play in your local deer herd? Can the introduction
of a monster buck into a herd assure quality deer for years to come? The
answer to these and other questions will definitely surprise you. If a
Boone and Crockett buck was introduced into your deer herd, would he produce
super bucks? Could you buy a monstrous-sized Alberta buck and bring it
to Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas or Alabama and expect the buck to breed
with does and produce offspring with heavier body weights and larger antlers?
Through selective breeding, could you implant does with embryos that carry
super genes to produce offspring that become bigger bucks with wider racks?
To get the answer to these questions and many more about genes and their
potential, I talked with Dr. Harry Jacobson from the Department of Wildlife
and Fisheries at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi.
One of the nation's leading deer researchers, Jacobson currently studies
genetic effects on deer populations. Question:
Can scientists produce big antlers through genetic selection? Question: What role does genetics play in determining
a whitetail's body weight and skeletal size? Question:
What would happen if a Wisconsin buck bred with a Texas doe and the offspring
lived in Texas? Would you have bigger offspring than the average-size
Texas deer? Question: Since northern deer usually have bigger antlers
than southern deer, if you cross a buck from Alberta, Canada, with a buck
from Georgia or Mississippi, will the offspring have larger than average
antlers? TOMORROW:
CAN BIOLOGISTS PRODUCE MONSTER BUCKS?
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Check back each day this week for more about The Super Gene ... Day 1 - Do Monster Bucks
Produce Monster Bucks?
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