|
|
John's Journal...
Entry
130, Day 4
THE SUPER GENE
Don't Shoot Spikes
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. I talked
with Dr. Harry Jacobson, one of the nation's leading deer researchers
from Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, who currently
studies genetic effects on deer populations.
Question: Should hunters shoot spikes and/or bucks with
malformed racks?
Answer: Bucks develop malformed racks for many reasons, including genetics.
While in velvet, the bucks may injure their antlers. Also nutrition, other
injuries and age play significant roles in the type and quality of antlers
a buck exhibits every year. A hunter shouldn't shoot a spike, because
this animal may carry the genes of a super buck and have the genetic potential
to produce the largest rack and the heaviest body weight of a buck you've
ever seen in your area. We raised several deer in our penned-deer study
that would qualify for the Boone and Crockett record book. Often, the
offspring from these deer were spikes. Even if the deer caries the genetic
potential to become a super buck, he may not express that potential or
become the big buck with heavy antlers you've looked for until late in
his life. He may never demonstrate those qualities of big antlers and
heavy body weight most hunters look for, even though he carries those
genes. A runty-looking buck in your deer herd may appear relatively small
in body weight and not have large antlers. However, he may carry the genes
of a super buck and someday may have a B&C offspring.
Question:
Can no one selectively breed deer in the wild to produce offspring that
have heavy body weights and large antlers?
Answer: You can't unless you know the complete parentage of that animal
for many generations.
Question:
How do you recommend hunters harvest deer for the animals to reach their
maximum genetic potential and to produce the most big bucks possible on
the lands they hunt?
Answer: Harvest the animals when they mature and not over-exploit or take
too many bucks in relationship to the number of does you take. You need
to harvest deer to keep a balanced age structure. If hunters only harvest
1- to 3-year-old animals on your property, then they're over-exploiting
the herd. You won't find the bigger, older-age-class bucks in that herd
that you want. If the younger bucks survive until they're 4, 5 or 6 years
old, they can express their genetic potential, breed on the basis of fitness
instead of age and produce bigger and better bucks.
TOMORROW:
MANAGING A DEER HERD FOR BIG BUCKS
|