Episode Player
Wild Deer Culling Research pt.2 - The Comanche Ranch Study
Wildlife Investments
Chapters
0:02
Intro & Guest Welcome
1:04
Part 1 Recap & Study Goals
3:18
How the Comanche Ranch Study Was Born
4:47
Eagle Pass vs. Kingsville: Habitat & Rainfall
9:53
Study Design: Three Treatments Explained
15:27
Helicopter Capture vs. Hunter Harvest
22:27
What Success Should Look Like: The Theory
25:21
The Results: No Genetic Change
29:58
The Negative Feedback Loop & Near-Buck Extinction
40:02
How Often Do Bucks Switch Cull Status?
44:40
Why It Failed: Heritability, Rainfall & the Doe Problem
50:36
Breeding Value: The Scatter Plot That Changes Everything
59:14
Why Some Ranches Still Appear to Succeed
1:03:09
Closing & Preview of Part 3
1:05:24
Outro
Wildlife Investments
Wild Deer Culling Research pt.2 - The Comanche Ranch Study
Jul 29, 2026
Season 1
Episode 17
Moriah Boggess
We're picking up where our last episode left off on the topic of deer culling for genetic improvement. Donnie Draeger is joining us to discuss the iconic Comanche Ranch high-fence culling study that went to even greater extremes to test whether deer herd population genetics can be improved. He and Bronson discuss the logistics of conducting a study of this scale, the results, and what contributed to the challenges they face in improving genetic quality of bucks.
You can read more on the the actual study here: https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/wmon.70013
