Episode Player
High Grading: Why Your Best Bucks Never Reach Their Potential & How To Address It
Wildlife Investments
Chapters
0:00
Introduction
1:34
The Bell Curve: Antler Distribution by Age Class
4:24
What IS High Grading?
6:48
The Antler Growth Curve
8:11
The Broken Stick Effect
8:52
Why Antler-Based Rules Cause High Grading
11:08
The Inverse Problem: Stacking Inferior Bucks
12:43
Comparing Harvest Rule Types
16:01
Points, Spread, and Mass: What Predicts Age?
17:43
Camera Surveys and Hit Lists
19:41
The Sensitivity of High Grading
23:28
Give Hunters Something to Chase
26:43
"I Just Want to Have Fun"
28:44
When Club Members Have Conflicting Goals
31:48
The Progression of the Hunter
32:36
Is Every Eastern Population High Graded?
39:02
Growing Up in High-Graded Country
40:18
Confessions of a High Grader
43:09
Practical Takeaways for Landowners
46:42
The Buck That Fooled Everyone
47:05
Outro
Wildlife Investments
High Grading: Why Your Best Bucks Never Reach Their Potential & How To Address It
Dec 31, 2025
Season 1
Episode 2
Moriah Boggess
Why can't you grow big bucks on your property? High grading might be the problem and you may not even know you're doing it! Selective buck harvesting is necessary when managing for age structure and trophy potential, but it opens the door to high-grading. Dr. Bronson Strickland, Bonner Powell, and Moriah Boggess explain why antler-based harvest rules often backfire. Thankfully, they also give some simple strategies to minimize high-grading while pursuing a blend of hunter satisfaction and trophy management goals for your property.
