HOW TO JUDGE A TROPHY BUCK'S POTENTIAL

One of the obvious—and most enjoyable—fringe benefits of QDMA management is the opportunity to view and hunt adult bucks. Watching a buck that you passed a shot on as a 1-1/2 year old grow into something special is a common experience for QDMA practitioners. Whether you harvest the buck or not is rarely as important as just knowing he’s living on your property!

Though many hunters dream of tagging a record-book buck, it’s important to have realistic goals. Three main factors—age, nutrition, and genetics—influence antler growth, and we can only influence the first two. Allow a buck to grow another year while providing him abundant food sources and quality habitat, and he will reach his potential. But the process takes time and not every buck has “the right stuff” to become a monster.

Rather than holding out for a specific antler size, a solid goal would be to wait for bucks to reach an older age class. For example, if the bulk of the buck harvest on your property has consisted of 1-1/2 year olds, holding out for a 2-1/2 year buck is reasonable. If in future seasons you want to wait for even older bucks, by all means do so. Some factors to consider when adjusting your goal will be the size of your property, hunting pressure in the area, and the amount of time you have to hunt.

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