Trying to plan ahead for this falls breeding season. I'll apologize now for the length of this, but there is an incredible amount of knowledge on this site, and I'd like to hear some thoughts.
My father's farm (Little Falls Whitetails) is his "hobby" but takes a substanial amount of his time given he has over 100 deer. I try to help out as much as I can, such as the record keeping, and planning. So I thought I'd look for some outside thoughts.
Going into the fall, we will have a total of 52 does, of which we will keep around 35-40 to fawn the following year. We currently have the following does:
8 Maxbuck Daughters, 14 Slapshot daughters, 11 Turk daughters, 6 "Park Buck" daughters, 2 avalanche daughters, a Redoy Weatherby daughter, a Walk's Savage daughter, a Walter daughter, and 4 other does out of our own stock. We will keep the Maxbuck daughters, some of the Slapshot and Turk daughters, the Park Buck daughters and the "good name" does.
Since dad works full time, and I live an hour away, we are not able to track the fawns on the doe side, other than this year in our pen of "good" does. To help with this, we have seperated the does by sire, so that all the does with the same sire are in the same pen. That way we know what the sire side is on top and bottom.
Primary goal for us is to grow big framed typical deer, since we consider our farm as a stocker farm, that is, supplying preserves.
Available breeder bucks:
Maxbuck - 7yr old grandson of Max. Was 208 SCI last year as a 5x5 with some kickers. Should be at or over 200 again this year.
Slapshot & Turk - 4yr old Highroller sons. Both are clean typicals that look real nice but don't score real high (Probably 150 - 160 range this year). However, Turk has some very nice typical 2yr olds sons 150 range. Turk's doe side is out of Big Red, and Slapshot's doe side is a 220 typical frame.
Bowtie - 3yr old Maxbuck son that was in the 150's at 2, and has taken off this year. Primarily typical with a few extras that should be 180-200 range. We think his Mom is an Avalanche doe, but do not know for sure.
0155 - 3yr old Maxbuck son that has a great look to him. Perfect 5x5 with a brow kicker and a small fork on G-2. Close to 24 wide with good tines and beams. Will be 170's, and maybe 180's depending on how he finishes.
"Park Buck" - 5 yr old buck that was 7x6 last year in the mid 180's, and also 180's at 3. Looks to be close to 200 this year and fairly clean as well. Only have 2 two year old sons from him and they are OK, but nothing special.
0261 - 3yr old that is out of a 170@4 buck. Was nice clean 10 last year with a big forked G-2, with long tines. This year he piled on the mass and looks like he could be in the 180-190 range this year, and possibly more depending on what his tine lenth is.
0322 - 2yr old Maxbuck son that was 17pt last year, and probably our biggest yearling ever. This year I haven't gotten a good look at him, but am told he is showing over 16 pts on a pretty typical frame, with great mass. Real pretty buck that will be over 160 for sure, and could be much much higher. Last year most his growth occured in mid July to early August. We believe he is also our of an Avalanche doe, and a full brother to Bowtie.
Most of these deer are in my albums on the home page.
The biggest questions I would have are:
1. Would it make sense to cross Turk with the Slapshot does to get Highroller on top and bottom. Even though they both don't score real high, Turk's oldest sons at 2 look real good, and they are Highroller sons.
2. When crossing genetics, do you amplify the positives, or try to offset weaknesses. That is, do you breed your buck with the best browtines to your does whose sire had the best browtines, or do you us your buck with the best brow tines to breed your does with a sire that had short browtines in order to bump their offspring up. Same for spread, mass, tine length, etc.
3. What 4 bucks other than 0322 would you breed with and what cross would be a good fit.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read all this. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
My father's farm (Little Falls Whitetails) is his "hobby" but takes a substanial amount of his time given he has over 100 deer. I try to help out as much as I can, such as the record keeping, and planning. So I thought I'd look for some outside thoughts.
Going into the fall, we will have a total of 52 does, of which we will keep around 35-40 to fawn the following year. We currently have the following does:
8 Maxbuck Daughters, 14 Slapshot daughters, 11 Turk daughters, 6 "Park Buck" daughters, 2 avalanche daughters, a Redoy Weatherby daughter, a Walk's Savage daughter, a Walter daughter, and 4 other does out of our own stock. We will keep the Maxbuck daughters, some of the Slapshot and Turk daughters, the Park Buck daughters and the "good name" does.
Since dad works full time, and I live an hour away, we are not able to track the fawns on the doe side, other than this year in our pen of "good" does. To help with this, we have seperated the does by sire, so that all the does with the same sire are in the same pen. That way we know what the sire side is on top and bottom.
Primary goal for us is to grow big framed typical deer, since we consider our farm as a stocker farm, that is, supplying preserves.
Available breeder bucks:
Maxbuck - 7yr old grandson of Max. Was 208 SCI last year as a 5x5 with some kickers. Should be at or over 200 again this year.
Slapshot & Turk - 4yr old Highroller sons. Both are clean typicals that look real nice but don't score real high (Probably 150 - 160 range this year). However, Turk has some very nice typical 2yr olds sons 150 range. Turk's doe side is out of Big Red, and Slapshot's doe side is a 220 typical frame.
Bowtie - 3yr old Maxbuck son that was in the 150's at 2, and has taken off this year. Primarily typical with a few extras that should be 180-200 range. We think his Mom is an Avalanche doe, but do not know for sure.
0155 - 3yr old Maxbuck son that has a great look to him. Perfect 5x5 with a brow kicker and a small fork on G-2. Close to 24 wide with good tines and beams. Will be 170's, and maybe 180's depending on how he finishes.
"Park Buck" - 5 yr old buck that was 7x6 last year in the mid 180's, and also 180's at 3. Looks to be close to 200 this year and fairly clean as well. Only have 2 two year old sons from him and they are OK, but nothing special.
0261 - 3yr old that is out of a 170@4 buck. Was nice clean 10 last year with a big forked G-2, with long tines. This year he piled on the mass and looks like he could be in the 180-190 range this year, and possibly more depending on what his tine lenth is.
0322 - 2yr old Maxbuck son that was 17pt last year, and probably our biggest yearling ever. This year I haven't gotten a good look at him, but am told he is showing over 16 pts on a pretty typical frame, with great mass. Real pretty buck that will be over 160 for sure, and could be much much higher. Last year most his growth occured in mid July to early August. We believe he is also our of an Avalanche doe, and a full brother to Bowtie.
Most of these deer are in my albums on the home page.
The biggest questions I would have are:
1. Would it make sense to cross Turk with the Slapshot does to get Highroller on top and bottom. Even though they both don't score real high, Turk's oldest sons at 2 look real good, and they are Highroller sons.
2. When crossing genetics, do you amplify the positives, or try to offset weaknesses. That is, do you breed your buck with the best browtines to your does whose sire had the best browtines, or do you us your buck with the best brow tines to breed your does with a sire that had short browtines in order to bump their offspring up. Same for spread, mass, tine length, etc.
3. What 4 bucks other than 0322 would you breed with and what cross would be a good fit.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read all this. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
