I always banded... but I attended a cutting festivity at a place that only cut their calves late and sometimes even had yearlings they'd missed the prior year. These bulls were anything from three months to over a year old, and the guy did it all from the back. Caught them in a headgate and reached in between the legs with a razor sharp knife. He explained that cattle can't kick directly back and their sidekick will miss someone directly behind them. I never saw him get kicked... but there was plenty of gyrating and bucking around. Once he had hold of the nuts they seemed to go rigid, and he got the job done fast.
Good luck.