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Eat up with spikes this year!

Old 12-22-2010, 08:41 AM
  #11  
Spike
 
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If you are ONLY hunting for meat, then it really doesn't matter. As long as you are harvesting game legally, thats all that counts. There is really no way of telling what a yearling buck will be by the time he reaches 4.5 - 6.5 years old. You cant really tell by what kind of antler growth they are sporting on their heads at such a young age. But one thing is FOR SURE. You will NEVER know what they will become if you shoot them as yearlings. This is a fact. Although its not certain, odds are, the more yearling bucks you shoot now will probally lead to less trophy bucks you will see later on. If you never let them live to their potential, you will never know what they would have become. There is nothing wrong with being a meat hunter. But there is nothing wrong with that same meat hunter dragging out a Boone and Crocket buck out of the woods either. Ill bet he will taste just as good and he will look great on your wall too and you will be able to share many stories about it too. There is nothing wrong with taking a big mature doe either for meat hunting. As long as what you are doing is legal, then the methods in which you hunt is entirely up to you. If it was me, I would let the yearlings walk and try to shoot the big does, and hope an nice shooter buck comes by too. But thats just me.
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Old 12-22-2010, 09:06 AM
  #12  
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I only will kill a buck if he's bigger than anything I've killed or if I can tell he's older and has a nice rack. I usually let doe walk also... my dad kills enough small deer for meat :]
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Old 12-22-2010, 09:35 AM
  #13  
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I would shoot a spike on my place if he was a mature deer but they can and most do if the groceries are available will improve MUCH better head gear. A much better choice for me here is taking does.
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Old 12-22-2010, 03:47 PM
  #14  
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I hunt public land in S.W.Pa.This season all I saw were spikes 4 points and very few does.I hunt the 4 point per side area.They were some big bodied deer though.
While hunting in Va I did kill the 1st spike of my hunting career and thats approx 40 yrs.I got it out of my system.
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Old 12-22-2010, 04:31 PM
  #15  
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Let em GROW! Remember back in school the kid on the football team that was OK but really didn't have any special physical talent and then a couple of years later when you hit high school ball this guy starts to grow up and blow up like the HULK...same thing with deer. We all develop differently. Most of what I have read about QDMA tells you to give them a couple of years to see how they are developing and see then if you think he has any further potential.

Last edited by J.M.A.N.; 12-22-2010 at 04:37 PM.
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Old 12-22-2010, 06:24 PM
  #16  
Spike
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Several years ago I worked on a large ranch (40,000 acres) in so Florida. We had a Whitetail program in conjunction with the state. The program included food plots and mineral feeders all over the ranch. It was divided into transects, and we counted deer during the season. Through this program we determined how many needed to be harvested. We maintained records including age (from removing jaw bones), KPH fat, pregnant does (including sexing the fetus and how many twins), weight, etc. During the many years I worked for this outfit I learned a great deal about Florida Whitetails. But certainly not everything! By aging we discovered most deer harvested were an average of 3 years. Occasionally we came across a 5 year old, and that deer was considered old and declining. We believed a 7 year old deer was very rare, and most likely Bobcat fodder. Besides nutriton, genetics plays a big part in bone structure/antler development. I live in an agricultural community where there is abundant food for deer year 'round. It has always been my thought/experience, based upon so many years ago, that if a buck did not have forked antlers its first year you didn't want it breeding the does. Of course, you are going for "trophy" deer with that program, and you have to have the cooperation of other hunters. I considered it the norm! I appreciate your viewpoints. I will let them walk for a couple years and see what we get.

I hunt ONLY legally. I kill does when possible during our doe WEEK. Yes, we have only one week out of the year, and hopefully you see one... this year I did not. I don't care about mounts any longer... I have mine, although I would still like a shot at a GREAT buck.

Thanks for the input.

Kerrdog
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Old 12-23-2010, 09:33 AM
  #17  
Nontypical Buck
 
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You generally can't make the assumption "once a spike, always a spike" based on what a deer looks like as a yearling. I hunt areas just like that too and I let 'em walk since SOME of them can become true wall-hangers given enough time and proper nutrition. A few years ago, one of the hunting magazines showed numerous cases of 1st year spikes that became true monsters over a 3 to 5 year period. A large doe tastes just as good and helps to keep the herd balance in check.
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Old 12-23-2010, 06:44 PM
  #18  
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the first 2 years are too early to tell if a deer will be a trophy....and sometimes even a select few 3 yr olds is too early to tell
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