i have mixed emotions about shooting small buck, spikes and 4 pters, some say that a spike will always have small horns, and should be shot to preserve good genetics and that a good yearling buck that has 6-8 pts will eventually be the monster buck, they say shoot the scrubs because there always scrubs,,,, im confused,, i let a few walk last year w/ the hopes they would be this years or next years trophy so what do you think or know on this??

i believe a 1 1/2 year old spike could possibly be a 4 1/2 year old bruiser.

That' s my opinion. I seriously doubt every spike will be a scrub...but I guarentee that every spike won' t be a monster either. I' m sure you could take a young spike, put him in a good food plot management area, and with the right nutrients and no harsh weather(winter) on him...he could be a bruiser at age 4 or 5 1/2.

Personaly I think it depends alot on the area you are in. For instance where I live in southern WI, The 1 1/2 yr. old bucks tend to have forks or small basket racks. Very rarley do I see a spike. But where I hunt in north east Wi I see all kinds of spikes. I think it has alot to do with the nutrition they have. So in general I think it would be nearly impossible to tell the future size of the buck by his 1 1/2 yr. rack.