I have heard the argument both ways, but I personally do not believe the "once a spike always a spike" theory. There is a story in this months QDMA magazine that tracks a buck from spike to 160 class 10 pt. Deerslayer 37, I use game cameras all year on my place, and I know which deer are going to show up when I move my cameras into certain areas. I use digital cameras and have HUNDREDS of pictures in my computer from the past few years. I do find that the populations change just before and during the rut, but by mid December, the familiar faces show back up.