New Cases of CWD found in Arkansas counties .
Here's my take on culling bucks.
You can tell after a few years that a buck doesn't have the genetics to be a real trophy deer. It's good to take some of those deer out. The problem I see with that improving your buck quality in your deer herd is in the doe population. There is absolutely no way to tell the genetics of the does on your property. Like raising horses, cows, etc., the female has a lot to do with the quality of her offspring. In horses, you can take a world champion stud and breed him with 100 mares. You still only get a few good quality horses by doing that and you SEE the foals on a daily basis, you KNOW which mare foaled it, and you eventually realize the ability of the mare to produce good foals. With deer, unless you raise them in a pen, you can't tell which does produce the best quality offspring. By the time a buck has his first set of horns, he's left his mom. No way to know which doe had him. There is zero chance you shoot the weak does on your place. If you kill numbers of does, you may actually take out the GOOD ones. Without literally tagging fawns and does to keep records, your fighting a losing battle. Genetics take decades to correct themselves with buck only management IF that can even be done.
There is much more to having a quality herd on your property also. The ability of the land to provide the right nutrients and food is another factor. Shooting cull bucks is only a small aspect of the equation.