In 3 or 4 of the clubs I have hunted in here in the big buck country of Florida (HA HA HA) we couldn't shoot spikes. The outcome is we had a bunch os 3 and 4 points and in some cases spike that were 14 and 15 inches long. In some parts of the world I am sure that you can let a spike go and it get bigger but this is one that it doesn't really matter!!!