I started out as a meat hunter but became more of a trophy hunters for a couple decades, though I always did take some meat deer as well. Now I am once again more of a meat hunter, though won�t pass up a good trophy when one appears.
Also have studied game management both in college, and a lot since then. The �kill all the spikes� theory got big play for a number of years, so much that it�s obviously part of the mind-set of many hunters today. But it was disproven years ago, because spike bucks may just be due to poor nutrition their first year, whether because they were late fawns, their mother was young, or weather in general.
Does carry not only fawns that may turn into a trophy, but carry genes that result in big antlers on bucks as well. So killing does and not bucks doesn�t guarantee anything except that the buck you pass up will live a longer. Whether he ends up as a trophy is a matter of chance, and not just from genetics but nutrition, which varies enormously, especially on public land.
Yeah, we can grow big bucks on private land, just like we can grow huge cattle by selecting for genetics, but if we choose to breed bigger-antlered bucks like cattle (as many do in Texas) we may be selecting against other factors that may be even more important for herd survival.
On a personal research note, the idea that mature �trophy� bucks aren�t good eating is generally BS. Big mule deer can be less tasty when worn down by the rut, but I have eaten several exceptions. I�ve yet to kill a big whitetail during any part of the rut that tasted less than good, and some were great.
