“Would you shoot him or pass him? And, if you’d shoot him, why?” questioned a hunter handing me a trail camera photo. I had just finished a presentation at a monthly meeting of the Dallas Safari Club. I inspected the photo. He continued: “And, what’s the difference between management and trophy buck?”

I smiled and said: “Do you also want me to guess your age and weight? Or possibly the score of the next whitetail buck you’re going to shoot?”

“OK, o’ great wise one…” came the retort as my questioner smiled. “Seriously, where do you draw the line between management and trophy buck?

“To me personally, every animal I take is a trophy. Trophy to me has nothing to do with the size of the animal, rack or horns, but with the experience.”

The buck in the photo was a mature seven-point. His main beams were spread outside of his ears and he had decent mass. I judged him mature based on body confirmation — thick neck and sagging skin about his face, as well as a swaying back and belly line. But, I wanted more information before I gave him a definitive answer.

“What’s the goal on the property where the photo was taken?” I asked. “Are the hunters interested in simply good hunting and a healthy deer herd and habitat, or do they want all that and to produce bigger bodied and antlered deer? Does the landowner agree with the hunters’ objectives and goals?”

My new acquaintance explained that the group wanted to improve the quality of the deer herd and produce bigger antlered bucks than currently existed on the property. He also assured me the landowner had the same goals and was willing to make adjustments to cattle numbers and grazing practices to improve the range, allow the establishment of several large food plots within the interior of the property and do some supplementary feeding.

Before getting into specifics about my definition of management bucks, I asked about the hunting group’s willingness to shoot does and pass younger bucks. “Yes!” came his reply. Next, we talked about buck-to-doe ratios, adult deer densities, total deer densities, fawn survival rates, percentage of mature bucks within the deer herd, and how all of this data could be gathered. No small chore in itself.

“First, let’s address spikes as management bucks,” I explained. “The one thing I can guarantee you about spikes, is if you shoot a buck as a spike, he’s never going to get any bigger! Before shooting spikes there are numerous factors to consider, including range conditions during the antler-growing season, overall nutrition, deer densities and long-term goals.

“Seeing numerous yearling spikes mostly indicates a nutrition problem. I normally recommend not removing spikes and concentrating on taking more does to lower the overall deer density which provides more and better forage for those remaining. By doing so, the incidence of spikes in time tends to decrease.”

“Personally, when it comes to removing what most people call ‘management bucks’ — if indeed there are such deer — I’m more interested in removing mature six or seven-point bucks and those with badly lopsided racks. Some of the bucks in that category could have screwed-up racks because of an injury. Most of the time the latter is the case. Bucks with antler anomalies caused by injury either to the body or the antler do not pass on those traits on to their offspring, but, they eat just as much throughout the year as a buck with two good antlers.

“When I say six and seven-point bucks I’m not talking about yearlings. I’m addressing those at least four years old or older. Sometimes these can be the hardest to find. They are challenging and fun to hunt! On one of the ranches I used to manage, I hunted a particular six-point for three years before finally getting him. We also shot several does in the area where we kept seeing six-point bucks. Once I finally removed the mature six-point the number of mature six-point bucks in that part of the ranch dramatically decreased. But remember very few bucks breed true in terms of antler style. Small-antlered bucks can produce big antlered bucks and big-antlered bucks can produce small-antlered bucks.

“Just because you cull or manage bucks it does not mean you are going to change the genetics of the local deer herd. The reason you remove, cull or manage bucks is that it stops them from eating forage that could be eaten by a buck that appears to have greater antler promise.

“One of the things that often happens when it comes to lower-end antlered bucks is that hunters decide to ‘save’ that deer to be taken later by a guest or family member. Frankly, that’s usually the last time the buck is seen that season. When you see what you consider a cull or management buck don’t attempt to save him for someone else.

Using my Ruger M77 FTW/SAAM Hunter in 300 Win Mag, I’d check that I have a Hornady 200 grain ELD-X in the chamber, then take him at the first opportunity!”

Several gathered around to listen to the discussion. Pointing at the photos, one asked me: “So you’re telling me to take this buck?”

“Yes sir,” came my reply. “I’d remove that buck at the first legal opportunity. Chances are he’s the dominant buck in the area. Many think the dominant buck is the one with the biggest antlers. Wrong! Dominance in whitetail deer has nothing to do with antler size. It has to do with body size — large like a bully or small like a scrapper — and attitude! If he is the dominant buck where you got the photo, all the more reason to remove him because he’s eating forage a better antlered buck could if the big six were gone. He likely chases other bucks from the feed area as well.”

From behind I heard someone ask: “What about management eight-point bucks?”

“Management eight-points? To be frank, I’ve seen eight-point bucks that I considered upper end. Any buck with eight points, that gross scores 140 B&C points ­– in my opinion ­– is an extremely good deer and an eight-point that big or bigger is a great buck! I don’t consider those kind of eight-pointers management bucks.

“Several things come into question regarding eight-points. How massive are their beams and how long and how wide? How long are his tines? Has he had an eight-point rack for two or more years in a row once he’s over four years? If the latter is true, then I’d consider removing him. Not to change the genetics of the area, but to leave food for other bucks.

“Wholesale removing all mature eight-points? I would not recommend doing that. The reason being, I’ve seen extremely impressive three-year and four-year-olds, with big 10 and 12-point racks chasing really hard during the rut. They are often badly run down and can’t nutritionally recover in time to grow another huge rack the following year. I’ve seen such bucks go from typical 12-point bucks, plus kickers, into nice, mediocre eight points the following year. Then, after a less stressful rut the following year they again produce huge multi-pointed racks. So, unless you know something about a particular eight-point buck, I’d hold off. See what he’ll turn into the following year before making the decision as to whether or not to take him.

“Remember it is unlikely that you are going to change the genetic base of the deer herd by shooting management or cull bucks. You are removing bucks that eat what other more promising bucks could eat to produce bigger racks.”

Every property is different. Deer herds too. There are a whole lot of answers that start with “it depends…”