THE SUPER GENE

Don't Shoot Spikes

EDITOR'S NOTE: What role does genes play in your local deer herd? Can the introduction of a monster buck into a herd assure quality deer for years to come? The answer to these and other questions will definitely surprise you. I talked with Dr. Harry Jacobson, one of the nation's leading deer researchers from Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, who currently studies genetic effects on deer populations.

Question: Should hunters shoot spikes and/or bucks with malformed racks?
Answer: Bucks develop malformed racks for many reasons, including genetics. While in velvet, the bucks may injure their antlers. Also nutrition, other injuries and age play significant roles in the type and quality of antlers a buck exhibits every year. A hunter shouldn't shoot a spike, because this animal may carry the genes of a super buck and have the genetic potential to produce the largest rack and the heaviest body weight of a buck you've ever seen in your area. We raised several deer in our penned-deer study that would qualify for the Boone and Crockett record book. Often, the offspring from these deer were spikes. Even if the deer caries the genetic potential to become a super buck, he may not express that potential or become the big buck with heavy antlers you've looked for until late in his life. He may never demonstrate those qualities of big antlers and heavy body weight most hunters look for, even though he carries those genes. A runty-looking buck in your deer herd may appear relatively small in body weight and not have large antlers. However, he may carry the genes of a super buck and someday may have a B&C offspring.

Question: Can no one selectively breed deer in the wild to produce offspring that have heavy body weights and large antlers?
Answer: You can't unless you know the complete parentage of that animal for many generations.

Question: How do you recommend hunters harvest deer for the animals to reach their maximum genetic potential and to produce the most big bucks possible on the lands they hunt?
Answer: Harvest the animals when they mature and not over-exploit or take too many bucks in relationship to the number of does you take. You need to harvest deer to keep a balanced age structure. If hunters only harvest 1- to 3-year-old animals on your property, then they're over-exploiting the herd. You won't find the bigger, older-age-class bucks in that herd that you want. If the younger bucks survive until they're 4, 5 or 6 years old, they can express their genetic potential, breed on the basis of fitness instead of age and produce bigger and better bucks.

TOMORROW: MANAGING A DEER HERD FOR BIG BUCKS