Like mentioned above, your cousin is full of bad information and you shouldn't listen to him. You are far more correct.

A spike isn't always going to be a spike and a 4 pt will not always be a 4 pt. A deer, like an infant needs maturity and nutrition to grow. A spike or 4pt is just an immature deer and given his time to mature, adequate nutrition and a splash of genetics you can be looking at a record book animal in 3 to 4 yrs. A spike could simply be a result of a late birth, a nutrient inefficient doe because of a hard winter or genetics....BUT...given a chance, a spike will grow and he could, could be a record qualifing animal in several years. A whitetail isn't concidered mature until he's into his 4 or 5th year...that is an old deer in the wild simply because of situation. A penned deer can live into it's teens....so go tell your cousin to stop spreading misinformation and educate himself about the whitetail, it might do everyone in your camp, community, school a world of good...in whitetail management.