Wooters was the guy who really got the ball rolling with the idea of a "Management Buck." The next thing you know, everyone is out there "culling" the herd of everything with a crappy antler. I've got his book Hunting Trophy Deer right next to me on the shelf.
1) There is no way a few guys on a few acres are going to have any effect on wild deer genetics. It's spitting in the ocean.
2) Half the genetics are carried by the doe, Now what?
3) The previous posters were right: Since Wooters wrote his tome, studies have shown spikes can turn into awesome racks later in life.
4) Wooters got all his knowledge working with captive deer inside fences. These weren't free ranging.
Mind you, I'm all for shooting deer with mangled antlers. I've shot my share.
EDIT: One other thing I left out. Wooters was in the ground before DNA testing came around. Since Wooter's time, genetic studies have shown that it isn't the big racks that do most of the breeding. In actuality, while the big guys are wrastlin' about, it's generally the young guys with the spikes, forks, and dinky baskets that are running around getting all the sugar. Whoda thunk?
Last edited by shaman; 01/04/18.
