"I have always assumed that if we are killing the best antlered bucks and leaving the (scrap racks) to do the breading that we would wind up with genetically inferior deer. I hope this is not the case, but if not why do some areas have management hunts?"
According to the UDWR people that I've heard from, the "management hunts" on the Henrys and the Pauns, are not because of their concern over genetics, On these premium units, a lot of hunters are passing over bucks with less than 4 points on both antlers, I guess because they see a 3 x 4 or less as an undesirable buck, on these premium units. Because of their antler configuration, some of these bucks get mature and some die of natural causes rather than get taken by a hunter. Rather than "waste" a buck, and "waste" a hunt, they issue "management tags" which gives additional hunters a permit. Like other bucks on the unit, some of these bucks are toads, some not so much, but they're issuing the permits to provide more hunting, not protecting the genetic make up of the unit's herd.
They say that female deer have a built in attraction to "the most likely to survive male". I guess that's where the term, natural selection comes from. Apparently one of the criteria is picking a buck that is old enough, heavy enough, healthy enough, as demonstrated by a buck's antler size, his body size and his attitude, to mate with. Does "select" what they sense is "the best". However, a does can only get pregnant 3 or 4 days out of the month, so if the only bucks that find her, while she is in the selecting frame of mind, are yearlings, she'll select the best of the yearlings, that have come to her scent. If she could select between more mature bucks, she could tell which bucks are better "survivors" and choose more wisely. So elkassassin's statement could be a real concern, if the "lack of natural selection" gets altered for long enough, or so it seems to me.
DC
