Too many spikes?
 

OK, so ive seen ALOT of spikes so far in bow season....does his mean anything, i cant help but to think that it could be a bad thing? I havent seen any big bucks yet.

Any ideas?

Eh. God's way of saving a doe and filling your freezer?

Against the club rules, 7 point or better rule...

I don't like the point rule. I like the score rule better, although it's hard to judge those borderline bucks in the field... The point rule just leaves too much room for exceptions. You tellin' me you would get in trouble for shooting this deer?

I prefer the freezer rule better. If it's legal, it fills the rules nicely.

After a few years the spikes of today, become big bucks of tomorrow.
There will be bigger bucks comming around, and chasing the spikes away.
You will see.
Good Luck getting one.

My lease last year had spikes on it everywhere, this year everyone is taking the biggest bucks ever on the same property... That's just hunting, ya never know.

If all the spikes are out lookin, then the big boys will soon come around. I hunt with a club that has a 3 on one side rule. Yeah, like your gonna take a 4 pointer. Most of us just follow the 6 or better rule, and it's the landowners rule not to shoot doe, so it's pretty easy for us. All the guys have a place they know of to knock down a doe on other propertys, so they don't go without meat. Since we put the restrictions on 5-6 years ago, we're getting around 12 deer every year, but they are noticeably bigger racks. From what we've seen so far, should be a great year if the weather cooperates. Good Luck.

Hes supposed to be a 8 point though, but if he was a borderline 8 point with two broken points, yes people would get kinda mad, him being that size tho... kinda different...
and YES the point rule does leave leave alot of room for error, could be a tny 8 or 10 point, but we also use common sense, and we have one " mess up " buck so i could kill a spike and call it a mess up, but whats the point ?

Not the case, every year this property is know for having ALOT of spikes
we do see all ranges of bucks every year also, but once u get past spikes, they thin out ALOT.

First off, it sounds like you could use some game cameras out there. Then you'll know if all you have are spikes. The big guys may just be nocturnal or in thicker cover. I believe trail cams get more hunters to pass on small bucks more than anything else. Knowing what's out there raises the bar for me. The point rule is completely ignorant! Many bucks with good potential can have 7 or more points by their second year, but can be pencil thin or not as wide. Does someone actually think shooting them is going to help grow big racks? You should also be allowed to take out bad genetics. That doesn't mean spikes, but say deer with funky racks or no brow tines. Hopefully whoever is making your club's rules will get their head out of the sand.

Mike

NY has antler restrictions in some areas.
It does make for more trophy bucks, which is nice.

3" & 3 points on one side.

The rule does not apply to kids under 16.

IMO could be two things...

1. not a good crop this year for forage...less food, weaker deer, etc...

2. too many deer, not enough food to go around, take some does!

My rule of thumb is for every buck, take a doe...

Usually big bucks are more timid and less likely to be in places where they can be seen. Rut excluded of course. The timid buttons and spikes will grow year by year without seeing alot of hunters because they stay secluded, and steer clear of the unknown. Spikes that are not timid will stumble past more hunters and fill freezers.

all this talk about management and genetics and yet no one has mentioned anything about age.

True. I figured that was a given, but still should've mentioned it. Young bucks are typically not as wary and I have also found they will often hang together, even during the rut.