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Longhorn spike....take him out or let him grow?

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Longhorn spike....take him out or let him grow?

Old 08-30-2011, 10:55 AM
  #11  
Fork Horn
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Good input folks.....

I think if I see him this fall I'm going to let him pass and hopefully grow a more typical rack.
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Old 08-30-2011, 12:45 PM
  #12  
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I saw that same study D&D did on spike bucks. They discovered that some of the spike bucks had poor nutrition in their mother's womb and some had poor nutrition since they were born. Once placed in an environment that met their nutritional needs more often then not they grew very respectable racks. I would focus on providing nutrition rather than killing this buck.
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Old 08-30-2011, 01:06 PM
  #13  
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I hunt primarily for meat, so I would have no problem passing him up. Unless I convinced myself that I needed a new hat rack. But anyways I would take a doe over him without hesitation. On top of that We have antler point regulations and he is no longer a legal kill in most of the state.
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Old 08-30-2011, 02:11 PM
  #14  
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let him walk he is a baby. If he is still a spike come next year then o.k decisions, decisions....
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Old 08-30-2011, 02:20 PM
  #15  
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How many buck tags do you guys get a year? We get one buck a year. If you shoot a so-called cull buck, you are done for the season.
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Old 08-30-2011, 02:26 PM
  #16  
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I agree, that's a youngster and needs to have a chance to grow some bone. For many years, study after study has shown that the vast majority of spikes are that way because of nutrition. Alot of them are born to yearling does as well. With our rediculous deer populations in the south now, spikes are more and more common across a large segment of the 1.5 yr old bucks.

Now if he grows a long set of spikes nextyear then yeah I'd whack him for sure. I don't agree with simple point restrictions tho, it puts to much pressure on 1.5yr old multi-tined bucks and protects spikes and 3ptrs. If more folks would simply take some time learning how to age deer on the hoof instead of relying on the govt. to tell them what they can shoot, the herds would be better off. TIME is THE most important ingredient in ANY buck mgmt plan, regardless of where on the continent you're talking about. All B&Cers began small...

Only way I'd let that lil spike be killed this year on my property would be if it stepped out in front of a youngster who hasn't yet killed one. My 11 yr old has a spike, 6 and wall hanger 8ptr to his credit so he refuses to shoot anything smaller than a nice 6. (My farm is in a county that allows 3 does per day per hunter everyday of the season so just killing a deer is no problem for the youngsters, makes it easier to convince them to let deer walk.) My 15 yr old however has only killed does so he'd probably get lead flung at him (he gets buck fever BAD, has missed some dandies including the first deer he ever shot at when he was 10, it was a 140"+ 8ptr. )

Once a spike always a spike is old folklore. Usually the same type of people who used to guess age by number of points!
HL

Last edited by HatchieLuvr; 08-30-2011 at 02:29 PM.
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Old 08-30-2011, 02:43 PM
  #17  
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From the body conformation, this is a very young buck. 1 1/2 at the most I suspect. Becasue where I hunt, deer are super plentiful and I can get the freezer filled with doe meat, I'd not even consider shooting this buck.
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Old 08-30-2011, 02:50 PM
  #18  
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Let him walk, you cant tell what he is going to turn in to until atleast 3.5 years of age. And since you cant change the genetics of a herd by harvesting bucks, even if you harvested every buck in your area you would be just wasting a buck tag on a buck that you are not happy with. Pike
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Old 08-30-2011, 02:53 PM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Stonewall308
Shooting animals merely to remove them from the gene pool will not benefit you unless you own 2000 acres or more, or you have a high fence.

Also, that is probably his first set of horns, no telling what he could turn into.
Doesnt matter if you own 2,0000 or 10,000 acres you cant affect the gene pool of a free ranging herd by shooting bucks, the only way to do it is by shooting every doe in the area. Pike
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Old 08-30-2011, 02:59 PM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by BarnesX.308
If you decide that you are going to kill him because you feel he is too inferior to be allowed to exist on your land and he should not be allowed to procreate, how do you know you can find him when you go hunting? Does he always stand broadside in the same spot at the same time every day? Or is he a wild and cunning deer.

This whole cull buck crap annoys me. It ain't hunting. It's farming and then window shopping.

Take what mother nature gives you.
I think some one fibbed to you and made you believe that every hunter should believe what you do about what real hunting is.
But if you dont believe in deer managment why do you waste time posting or even reading a thread about it? Pike
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