A friend of mine shot a legal buck last year that had one antler with 4 points on the one side and two on the other. It had 28 inches of spread. he was all proud of it until we showed him the deer that we had shot.

I would guess that his deer had started out life as a spike.

I have seen year and one half old deer that had a spike and nothing more. Most times - as soon as a person saw a antler - they shot it, regardless of how many points it had. Especially when it was the last day of the season.

One year when the antlers were falling off the week of Thanksgiving and rifle season doesn't start here until the following Monday, nobody in camp saw a legal buck and I won the buck pool with a one antlered buck. The antler fell off after I shot it and I had the deer and the antler and my dad was mad that I hung it in the tree at the camp. Then the bolt cover broke on my Gamemaster Rifle when I shot the deer - couldn't get the empty out. Then the gun shop refused to repair it for free - because the gun was 6 weeks and 3 days old. Then I tore out the transmission when I peeled tires out of the gun shop. Later I got in trouble for changing the transmission in a car wash during a thunder storm.
$200 fine for trespassing at the car wash..

So all in all - that one little deer cost me almost a thousand bucks.

Why did he stop being proud of it? IMO, if you're not proud of the deer you bag, you shouldn't kill it in the first place. Always take pride in the animals you harvest...someone with a bad attitude shouldn't take away from the experience of another because his rack doesn't measure up in someone else's eyes.

Just my two cents...

They are great tooth picks.

bb

The next time someone says this to you, just ask them when the last time they saw a 4 or 5 yr. old spike was. To think that a spike buck will only ever be a spike is one of the dumbest general hunting statements I've heard.

But it's your call. If you don't want bigger bucks then go ahead and shoot the spikes. Otherwise I'm guessing there are plenty of does for the freezer in your area.

Have to agree with this 100%. GENERALLY this is the case. Like all things there are exceptions but do not believe that many spikes will only be spikes. Thats crazy someone one even think that

Have to agree with this 100%. GENERALLY this is the case. Like all things there are exceptions but do not believe that many spikes will only be spikes. Thats crazy someone would even think that

That's what I figured I've seen a lot of em but have only shot 2 that messed up one and one that was sick so I guess I'm doin ok.

Just saw an interesting segment on a hunting show by some guy from the QDMA(i think his name was Brian Murphy) about culling in general. In a nut shell, he said it is a waste of time to "cull" for antler genetics in a free ranging whitetail herd because; a whitetail buck gets 50% of his genetics from his Mother, a substantial portion of the does are bred by the most aggressive bucks, not necessarily the biggest antlered bucks and very few deer herds are anywhere close to a 1:1 Buck/Doe ratio, so most of the adult bucks in a given area are doing at least some breeding regardless of antler size. Like someone already said, when was the last time you saw a mature spike? If you want to shoot spikes, shoot them. Just don't kid yourself into thinking you are some how manipulating genetics in your deer herd.

I happy i came accross this thread.. its good to read that not every hunter has conformed to trophy hunters. Which just shoot deer for there racks. I have only been hunting for 7 years but every year it seems to get worst about people being negative towards others because of what they shoot. I think a lot of people just shoot bucks so they compare antler size, and forget what the sport is really about. Its pretty much saying "I have a bigger one than you so i must be better. In cases of a spike i've seen many examples were they grow racks the next year.

Thats exactly what I was thinking when I started reading this post and i agree 100%. I have never seen a 4 or 5 year old spike weighing 200+lbs. Thats just rediculous for someone to think that a spike will always be a spike. I know there are some exeptions to this but im pretty sure a 220lb 4 year old spike is very rare cause ive never seen one or heard of anybody shooting one. Some deer just dont grow as big as others and thats just part of there genetics but if you want big deer on your property you need to let the young deer walk until they grow to be 4-5 years old and reach there full potential of antler growth.