Genetics for me. If someone told me I had to quit feeding, I'd be okay with it and I know I'd still have big deer to hunt.

My concern of lack of nutrition would be with numbers and fawn recruitment rates. Think I'd rather have more bucks running around to reach maturity than gaps in the age structure from does aborting from lack of nutrition.

Genes. nutrition can also make a management six point a bigger management six point. Big deer genes give you potential either way.

Well then shoot more deer and you will have more nutrition for those left and not have the gaps.

Wouldn't work if you had to choose 1 or the other bc they would be licking rocks for nutritional needs if you chose genetics.

Well then it depends on them rocks they are licking. You can do both by killing more deer and they doesn't have to be an equal amount of bucks vs. doe either.

Why not provide them nutritional resources and carry a normal amt of deer instead of 1 every 1000 acres and hope it has the genetics to break 100 before it gets hit feeding on the side of the rd where they'll find their only fertlized food source.

If you are carrying the "normal amount of deer", then that means you are in carrying capacity. You won't have wait for those 6 yrs of great rainfall to see enough forage to raise all those excess deer you have.

With absolutely no nutrition what would CC be?

Genetics, no doubt. All the nutrition in the world will not overcome crap genetics.

I would be in selling that worthless piece of ground and buying me a piece that has got good habitat.

If it had no CC how did the deer ever get there to begin with?

They're just walking through hoping someone close chose nutrition over genetics.

I heard it on many a hunting show when the game biologist states that "genetics" are the most important factor in producing trophy bucks enhanced by nutritional supplemental feeding. They don't say "nutritional supplemental feeding" followed by genetics. Traits are traits first and foremost...

So you offer a welfare system of survival hoping they will grow into deer you want
And to think I made my 13,000th post on a genetics vs nutrition thread

This forum just makes me #($*Y%)#) mad because I am on a lease where it is brown its down. Makes being a wildlife bio major on the lease a lot of fun...I always have a lot to say, but there is little going to be done so whats the point...

I know for a fact we could have nice bucks too because every year, there is at least one nice buck somehow taken off the place.

Just goes to show I'm a steward of the land and worried about survival of the species.

Here fixed it for ya

You may not like him but one of the foremost deer gurus (Dr. Deer) says age & nutrition are the 2 most important factors within free range deer and has 40 years of data to back his opinion up. Genetics ranks 3rd or 4th in his opinion.

Stx agrees.... It's the later and final step that neither side of the debate can beat the other...

Feed them or not to let them live that long

No genetics can help if you don't have the age and nutrition in that order.

Gotta eat to #2, so it appears we agree

Not it just shows you know your feces

Still in agreement.