4 Reasons You Should Consider Booking a Cull Hunt

Outside of Texas, few of you old timers ever heard of a “cull” buck back in the day. Tutoring myself in the cornfields and river bottoms of South Dakota, any decent buck that passed within range of my Jennings compound bow or hand-me-down .243 Remington was fair game. As whitetail management practices leaked from Texas and other early innovative pioneers, the term cull gained acceptance. Today, most whitetail hunters understand the term although the practice still has many skeptics.

Without going down a separate rabbit hole, some question whether removing certain animals from a free population does much as others disperse and fill voids with regularity. Plus, young bucks taken out of a population may not have shown their true potential before ending up on the chopping block. In a controlled, high fence situation, culling does offer some management manipulation opportunities, but in the real world, questions remain.

Enough said on that topic. The point of this article is to enlighten you on why a cull hunt is something to consider. The reasons vary, but the outcome is the same. You get to hunt some very impressive properties from time to time. It’s time to consider lowering your expectations for a cull hunt.

PROVIDES HUNTING OPPORTUNITY

Most of my so-called cull hunts take place on property owned by friends of mine. High fences do not contain the deer, but by the gracious nature of the landowners they have allowed me to hunt. The one stipulation is that I target mature deer not on their hit list. I immediately sign on for the duties. First, it provides me with an opportunity to hunt great properties. Who wouldn’t like access to a managed property with the potential to see good numbers of deer? That excitement alone is worth the price of having to focus on a cull buck of their choosing.

I’m sure you, like me, have hunted some real gar-hole locations over the years. For those of you who do not own a redneck dictionary, a gar hole is the opposite of a honey hole. Too many times, I have sat in a stand without so much as a squirrel passing underneath for days. Hunting a property with a healthy deer population, turkey sightings, a bobcat encounter and more all add to the experience. And if the stars align, you might get a shot at a buck deemed a cull by the landowner.

By chance if you do not have a friend offering cull opportunities, go online. As previously mentioned, Texas popularized the practice and many outfitters there offer cull hunts for significantly reduced prices. The custom has spread and large operations across the country occasionally advertise these hunts. Be watchful for opportunities, free or at a reduced price.

TARGETING MATURE ANIMALS

Since young bucks do not always exhibit the true potential until they reach a minimum of 4 ½ years, most cull buck hunts target mature animals. Count me in on this mission. Hunting mature bucks, regardless of their score, has been a goal of mine for decades. Sure, you and I would love to shoot a Lakosky giant every season, but the satisfaction of overcoming the superpowers of a 5 ½ or older buck provides an equal rush of accomplishment. After you come to terms with the fact you must pass on the trophy class of bucks a property is holding for another year of growth or for another bowhunter, the challenge of hunting a mature animal fills the void.

The real complication comes from the fact you must memorize bucks that are on and off your cull hit list. Sometimes that is easy with giant bucks you simply cannot misjudge, but some bucks that ride the line of thumbs up or thumbs down could test your score, and mature buck analysis skills.

Fortunately, trail cameras save the day. Last season I brought a pair of Muddy Manifest 2.0 cellular trail cameras with me along on a Kansas archery cull hunt and the immediate image feed to my smartphone not only aided in decoding cull buck opportunities, but they also worked to alert me to what pattern the trophy bucks were on. That helped in keeping me updated if a bruiser not on my cull list entered the neighborhood. Avoid mistakes at all costs.

A CHANCE TO FILL THE FREEZER

Whether your cull hunt includes the opportunity to hunt a mature buck or as oftentimes is the situation, remove a plethora of does from a property, the outcome is the same. You get to fill the freezer. Some outfitters even allow free cull hunts to reduce the number of female deer on their properties after their paying clients go home. For those of you with an opportunity to hunt a friend’s property for an older, but low-scoring buck, a successful outcome is still the same with good eats to follow.

Any mature doe provides nearly 50 pounds of deboned meat and an adult buck usually exceeds that venison amount. Best of all, venison provides an economical and organic free option over store-bought meat. Venison boasts 50 percent less fat than beef with hardly a trace of carbohydrates. It’s very lean, yet high in protein, something to think about if you engage in a high protein diet. Low cholesterol, important minerals, vitamin benefits and fewer calories add to the fact that a cull hunt should be used as a freezer filler as much as adding another hat rack to your collection. It’s a dietary advantage and cool hunt all in one package.

THEIR CULL MAY BE YOUR TROPHY

Over the course of four decades of whitetail hunting I’ve discovered that one person’s cull is another person’s trophy. While bowhunting in South Dakota one year on a property managed exclusively for high-scoring prairie deer, I tagged out on a long-beamed, mature 5x5 buck that I was more than glad had made it on the cull list. Over the years I have taken a doaen or more respectable 4x4 bucks from cull hunts on properties across the Midwest, but the greatest prize I ever received was on a recent Kansas bowhunt.

Several of the farm managers showed me images of a nontypical with a quirky left side and respectable right side. Neither land manager had an interest in the buck yet knew it well from trail camera images and clearly deemed it was mature. They added it to the cull list and one afternoon in early November I sat a stand in the hangout area of the buck.

My first sighting of the buck, from 300 yards away, was jaw dropping! I could tell then he had an impressive frame and an even more impressive body. The buck nearly caused me a heart attack from its size alone, but it’s skirting antics past the stand added to my potential cardiac arrest situation.

Right before it headed into the timber, it made a hard right turn and walked past my stand for a 15-yard shot. I needed the closeness as my buck fever was turbo charged. Walking up to the buck later was a high I will never forget. That cull buck ranks as one of my top ten whitetails to date and reason enough to always consider a cull hunt.

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