CULLING FOR QUALITY

James Morgan and I had just settled into the 360 Hunting Blind when the first buck showed up. As luck would have it, it was on the hit list and James was about to get a chance to fill his first Illinois buck tag of the season. James and I had been on a few previous hunts, and while we saw some bucks just about every time out, the ones we were looking for seemed to be avoiding us.

This hunt would be different, however. The 3½-year-old 10-pointer was quickly walking into range and I was about to witness James’ marksmanship skills for the first time. The buck stopped at 25 yards and James sent a well-placed arrow right through the boiler room. The buck bound away, but didn’t even make it out of the Real World soybean plot before he crashed to the ground.

James was fired up. This was his best buck ever and I was pleased as well, but for a different reason. I wanted this buck culled from my farm. It is all part of a unique management plan that I have been implementing for more than a decade on my property that is paying off handsomely.

By the time the 2018 hunting season ended, James had shot another cull buck on my farm and two other guests had also killed bucks that made the hit list as