Thread: the OFF TOPIC to Stags shot 21 (discussion of wild animal management)

Originally Posted by kbrebs

Was wondering if this perspective would pop up. This thread has a lot of talk of game management but none of habitat management or conservation, one hind is worth 5 stags etc. As hunters we need to recognize that some areas just cant carry the amount of animals that live in them, and shooting everything IS a needed solution, by letting populations get to the levels that we are starting to see in some areas we are putting those areas at risk of a permanently weaker herd.

It doesn't matter how good an areas genetics are, if there isn't enough tucker to keep the animals in good breeding condition the trophy potential and health of the herd is going to suffer. Plain and simple, hungry deer don't grow big heads, they cant put on enough condition to be decent eating animals, which also means not enough condition to grow and raise healthy fawns, runty fawns end up being runty deer and the cycle continues.

Don't forget that hinds also carry genetics, and a young 2-5yr old stag with good genetics who is shot "before his prime" has still most likely passed his genes on, his genes don't get better as his antlers do, its almost like some people believe that stags only pass their genes on once when they are at peak antler growth and the hind they mate with has zero impact on the progeny!
Just another perspective to the debate but one that tends to be overlooked.
A healthy habitat breeds healthy deer and everyone wins, whether you are a conservationist, trophy hunter or meat hunter. The only people who lose out are the ones not willing to put in the time or legwork.

P.S a little pair of Bahco secateurs will mow through ribs with ease Gimp, also handy for snipping a branch to hang a leg on, cutting a window to harvest a heart without gutting, getting through supplejack or scrub quietly etc, good lightweight option instead of a hatchet.

I think it's kind of assumed the many mentions of controlling populations is for habitat management you can't manage for habitat without managing for population. The discussion just has more than one focus.

Coming from a registered Angus background that focuses on breeding for better females I completely understand females carry half the genes. You cannot however assess antler quality genes by looking at a hind so no judgement can be made.

I thought earlier I had eluded to a feed pinch at which too many animals means they all suffer nutritionally ie meaning less healthy deer.

I don't agree with shooting everything even in high population areas. I think due to the fact that high pay a dividend of the equivalent population control as 5 stags and they have less effect on hunt quality for those that are looking for mature stags it makes far more sense to target hinds specifically leading to more competition between stags improving genes that carry on.

So in short I agree with all your points and thought they had been eluded to already earlier. I just disagree that targetting everything is a good way to do it as why kill 20 stags when you could much more easily just kill 4 extra hinds for the same population effect with less effect on hunt quality.