No offense taken. Multiple things IMO. Next season will be my 14th year on the lease so we obviously have a great relationship with the LO and long term lease agreements. The LO and our members are all on the same page when it comes to management.

Yes we feed protein, cottonseed, and corn and we are obviously very patient and selective in the deer we take. Does not mean there have been a few mistakes over the years but all in all we err on the side of caution if we do not think a deer is mature.

Yes the forbs and brush on the ranch are excellent which obviously makes a difference. It is a large ranch. To me one of the major things done was adding water pilas all over the ranch which made a huge difference. Even if our tanks go dry in drought there is always water available. There are no livestock on the ranch nor oil field traffic.

In addition the LO and our lease members cull hard. I get that there are folks out there who say culling has no impact but in our case we have done it for years and the results are hard to argue with. We vary the number of does we kill each year based on fawn survival and range conditions. We kill culls on sight and some management bucks. There is no reason in our opinion to let a 3-4 year old basic 8 point walk unless he has some distinguishing feature (huge frame, unusual mass, etc.) We have too many 10-20 point deer to let 8's walk.

So there is a lot more to it than feed. The biggest challenge is finding the right lease members who are willing to be super patient and work with each other. Yes we have rules but they are common sense rules and yes we follow them (including me). So end of the day and as I have told many folks it does not happen by accident.

To be clear, many on here argue culling to “change genetics” doesn’t work. I think few would argue culling for management doesn’t work (as evidenced by your lease). The genetics of the deer herd are still the same as when you joined 14 years ago (again evidenced by the fact you haven’t imported any different genetic lines and you are getting what you see in this thread, amazing deer), the difference is allowing full genetic expression. Sorry, not trying to derail or start an argument, but the point was worth making and distinguishing from some of the previous posts about the topic.

At 5 he should have already passed his genes along. Genes don’t change from year to year, and if he took a year back then blew up, would you have had the same thought a year ago? I admire the conviction and commitment, there is nothing I will disagree on there. I wouldn’t have taken it to chance though if I saw him this year — that’s a one in a lifetime.

Beautiful deer.

Congratulations on your management success and thank you for sharing.

I haven’t shot a deer on my lease in 5 years.

I would like to officially put my name on your waiting list.

The funny thing is he had an opening either this year or the year before if I remember correctly.

I'm curious, how many acres is the LF lease? Does it back up to any HF ranches. How much protein are you feeding? Being a bit skeptical, it's one thing to have a buck of a lifetime on a low fence property where the deer can come as go as they please, and the folks on adjoining leases would drop in heart beat! However, when there are multiple 200 class deer on a LF lease and they're there year after year it makes me ask how? Game management is one thing and something myself and my neighbors all work together on, but what's your secret? Yes, great genetics being passed down I get, though on low fence you don't have control of the does genetics. It takes two to create a 200 plus deer plus great food and protein. Even in deer breeding programs, not all bucks born have what it takes to be monsters. This is made even harder to produce on LF deer with unknown genetics.

Just curious how big your lease is and what you're doing in the game management program, that a lot of us aren't!

I'm curious, how many acres is the LF lease? Does it back up to any HF ranches. How much protein are you feeding? Being a bit skeptical, it's one thing to have a buck of a lifetime on a low fence property where the deer can come as go as they please, and the folks on adjoining leases would drop in heart beat! However, when there are multiple 200 class deer on a LF lease and they're there year after year it makes me ask how? Game management is one thing and something myself and my neighbors all work together on, but what's your secret? Yes, great genetics being passed down I get, though on low fence you don't have control of the does genetics. It takes two to create a 200 plus deer plus great food and protein. Even in deer breeding programs, not all bucks born have what it takes to be monsters. This is made even harder to produce on LF deer with unknown genetics.

Just curious how big your lease is and what you're doing in the game management program, that a lot of us aren't!

So Jeff - I noticed this is your first post here in over two months. Please tell us about the J&D ranch north? How many acres? LF or HF? How much protein do you feed? Pics of your deer? Management program? Who are your neighbors? Fill us in please on how you run your ranch?

If you really must know, on Oct 1st I was placed on a ventilator and put in a coma for six days with Covid, I spent 16 days in the ICU. I lost 30 pounds of muscle mass during those 16 days. I spent a total of 40 days in the hospital. I'm learning how to walk all over as well as eat and swallow. The breathing tube gave me ulcers in my throat narrowing my throat passage. I have physical, occupational and throat therapy five days a week. Though not all in one day, physical therapy 3 days a week and OP and throat two days a week. PM me, I'll give you my real name and you can go on my FB page it's all well documented with my ups downs and my progress. Most of which my wife posted.

I just started getting back on line and looking around. Sat evening was my first time in a deer stand. My wife drove me to the stand helped me get in and then picked me up. When I get back for PT later this morning I'll answer your questions about my ranch!

Please where a mask. Covid is no joke!