Bucks. Something that is a decent size buck with a smaller rack. The better the gene pool is for breeding the better the offspring will be the next few years. Unless your overrun by does then take a few small ones too.

BUCKs, I never have, and never will shoot a dow!

For good management, you should shoot a doe for every buck you take. Unless your herd already has a one to one buck to doe ratio, you should take more than one doe for every buck. It doesn't matter whether you WANT to shoot does, you should do it for proper herd balance.

Does, does and more does. We have way too many does in this part of Arkansas, no one wants to shoot one. Our poor bucks run themselves to death trying to stay ahead of the dogs and to breed the 10-20 doe he's required to breed. I think if Arkansas hunters were to thin the doe herd, the bucks would grow larger and older. States that have the one to one buck to doe ratio have better herds and better bucks from what I've seen. I grew up hunting Texas where we were allowed 2 does and one buck, some years the state even let us take 2 bucks, now look at the deer numbers in Texas, some of the best deer numbers per acre as any other states.

Obviously the answer to this is does. One buck can get hundreds of doe pregnant. You are removing multiple deer from the woods for each doe you take and only removing one for each buck.

Depends on the current status of the herd. If the does are carrying us away, then they need to be thinned a bit.

Justin D just reminded me of another important variable to add to my previous answer...geographic location. In areas that experience harsh winters harvesting does can be VERY detrimental to the deer herd. The reason is because the winter kill is a more effective method of population control than hunting. In these areas, there are often "buck only" regulations. The Adirondacks in NY is a pretty good example.

From a management stand point, definately a doe. There is no way to tell if that spike is going to grow into a really nice buck unless you give him a chance.

if there is more does than bucks try and get the ratio to about 1 buck to every 1 or 2 does. that will equal things out and give you more shooting options on bigger bucks. pass up the smaller bucks and shoot the big ones that would score at least 135+.