I've always hated spikes, call it an obsession, but I get pissed when I see a spike. I always held the belief that spikes should be killed. I then read a study by Dr. Harry Jacobson, the world famous deer biologist from Mississippi State University who "grew" a B&C buck that was a first year spike. Then studies followed that showed that being a spike first year had no relation to future antler size. Those studies basically changed the way QDM was performed in Mississippi. I agree that young spikes, 3pts etc can develop to be a nice bucks. But, this thinking has also led to us letting some inferior deer survive IMO. I'm starting to see an abundance of 130-150lb spikes 3pts, etc. While these deer may become a decent deer someday, they will never IMO become a trophy.

What are you thoughts on this topic? At what point(weight/age class) do you decide that a spike or small buck will not meet the potential you are looking for?