02/06/2026
Culling bucks does not improve genetics on free-ranging deer. And the only places it’s ever shown real results are places most hunters don’t hunt.
The idea of “culling” only works in high-fence operations, and to a much lesser extent low-fence deer farms, where managers control movement, breeding, and harvest numbers. In those settings, deer aren’t free roaming, breeding is more predictable, and managers have the tag flexibility to remove multiple animals every year and adjust herd structure over generations.
That is not how wild deer live.
On free-ranging ground, antler size is driven far more by age, nutrition, and habitat than genetics alone. Young bucks with small or odd antlers are almost never genetically inferior — they’re just young, stressed, or underfed. Given time and groceries, many of those “culls” turn into solid deer.
Selective breeding requires control over who breeds and who doesn’t across multiple generations. When does breed multiple bucks, bucks move between properties, and genetics are already passed on before hunters ever see a deer, shooting one or two bucks a year isn’t changing genetics — it’s just changing who shows up on camera next season.
By the time a buck is labeled a “cull,” his genetics are already in the population. Shooting him doesn’t remove bad genes, it removes a future age class.
And here’s the uncomfortable part: a lot of the time the word “cull” isn’t about genetics at all. It’s a convenient way for hunters to feel better about shooting a small buck after saying they were holding out for something bigger.
There’s nothing wrong with shooting a legal buck.
There is something wrong with calling it genetic management when it isn’t.
Aaron B. Futrell, Author|Owner, Delong Lures
