Nice bucks there KYBOWMAN. THey both would have been gigantic as mature bucks, you got some good growth potential there.

Here's my take on things. The more fertile an area, with good genetics, a balanced herd and decent winters is probably not going to have many spikes. And most certainly if you get one that's older than 1.5 and still a spike, shoot it. So-so deer habitat places with out of balance herds, will probably have more spikes, but i still think there are potential for them to grow into decent bucks as things progress.

THANKS RYBO, FUNNY THING IS I HAVE NEVER SEEN A SPIKE IN MY AREA. MOST OF THE SMALL BUCKS IN MY AREA ARE AT LEAST A FOUR POINT OR BETTER. I AGREE WITH YOU WHEN YOU SAY THAT IF A BUCK IS STILL A SPIKE AFTER 2 1/2 YOU SHOULD DEFINATELY TAKE HIM. IN MY AREA THE BUCK TO DOE RATIO IS ABOUT 1 BUCK FOR EVERY 2 DOES. THE WEIRD THING IS THAT I HAVE ONLY SEEN 1 P&Y BUCK SINCE I'VE BEEN HUNTING THERE. THE BIG BOYS ARE THERE THEY JUST KNOW WHERE TO BE WHEN FALL STARTS COMING ON.

HERE'S ANOTHER PIC OF A BUCK TAKEN IN THE SAME GENERAL AREA THAT I HUNT.

HERE'S ONE THAT WAS TAKEN ON FORT KNOX. I HAVEN'T HUNTED THERE YET BUT I PLAN ON IT THIS YEAR.

HERE'S THAT SAME BUCK. HE GROSSED 198 AND NETTED 186.

As a wildlife manager on a couple of ranches in south Texas, my job is to make the land produce big mature bucks year after year.

I will not allow spikes that are 1 1/2 years old to be shot. Mainly because, at 1 1/2 bucks do Very little breeding, so the chances of them passing there genes to future generations is very slim. But if a spike is older then 1 1/2, then we kill it.

Once a buck gets to 2 1/2, if he has 4 points or less, we kill it. Once a buck gets to 3 1/2, if he has 6 points or less, we kill it. And any bucks that are 4 1/2 or older, and have 8 or less points or that scores less then 130", then we shoot it. We consider them "cull" or "management" bucks.

As far as spikes go. Most bucks that produce spike antlers there first year, will grow bigger racks with more points as they get older. The only problem is that he will never grow the same size of rack as a different buck that is the same age, but who did not have spikes as his first set of antlers. What I'm trying to say is that a 1 1/2 year old spike will never be as big of a trophy as a 1 1/2 year old 4,6,8 pointer.

I guess the trophy is in the eye of the hunter. But on the ranches I manage, a buck is not a trophy unless he is 160" or better. Most of the hunters that hunt on the ranches, will not pull the trigger unless the buck scores 160" or more.



As far as that 190" typical buck that was killed on Fort Knox, that is a beatiful buck. We had 4 typical bucks killed this year off of the ranches that I manage, that scored 170" or better. The biggest was a perfect 12 point that finished out at 182", hes going in the B&C book. But anyway, it seems like all military bases produce HUGE bucks year after year, and the reason why is because they receive very little hunting pressure. On the NASA space center land in Houston, there is a BIG perfect 10 point buck that is running around that will score close to 190. But there is no hunting allowed out there.

HIGHRACK, DO YOU HAVE A LINK TO THE RANCH THAT YOU MANAGE I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO GET OUT TO TEXAS TO TAKE A BIG BRUISER.

Most of the ranches that I manage only allow family and friends to hunt. There is one ranch that I manage that sells hunts, but we dont have a website because the hunts are offered on a very limited basis and most of the time we are book up to 2 years in advance.

However, I do know alot of ranches down here that offer hunts. They charge any where from $100 a day, to $20,000 for a 5 day hunt lol. So theres a hunt for every bodies budget.

If you want me to provide some websites, then please tell me what area you would like to hunt (ex. south texas, central texas) , tell me what kind of weapon you want to use, and what your budget is. I'll be more then happy to help. Happy hunting.

I WOULD LIKE TO GO TO SOUTH TEXAS, EITHER BOW OR RIFLE. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME MAN I APPRECIATE IT.

ROTFLMAO at JRW