I thinkit is a judgement call. I will not shoot a spike, unless I think he is 2.5 years old or older. I base this decision on a mistake I made a few years ago. I was hunting an oak flat on my farm the second day of season. My buddy told me about a huge spike he saw the day before. We were just starting to manage for better deer at the time, and he let it go. At daybreak I saw several does, and a large buck chasing them around. I could tell that he was a much larger deer than we are used to seeing here. He finally came my way and at 40 yards I decided to let him go. He weighed at least 170 field dressed and had about 14" long tines that looked like a main beam that did not branch. Most of the 2.5 and 3.5 year old deer here would dress at 150.

A few years later my neighbor told me a story about the biggest deer he had ever shot. He said it would weigh 200 lbs!! And, it was a spike!! It had to be the same deer. I wish he had saved the jawbone, but he didn't. I would guess he was about 5 years old, which is very rare around here. So, that's why if I see a spike that I believe is 2.5 years old or older he is walking dead.