I have been watching a medium bodied cowhorn since bow season came in. (North Carolina Central Area). I' ve heard that many cowhorns, if not all, will never grow to be more than a cowhorn for whatever reason. Anyone have any thoughts or anything. I have hesitated to shoot it for what it could become in the following years. But if it is a genetic thing I would like to get it out of the herd before breeding starts in the next couple of weeks, just hate to do it before I am sure. BTW, he is probably 150-160# with about 10" spikes.

I shoot at least one like this every year. I normally don' t shoot spikes but a deer like you described is maybe 21/2 years old and has poor genetics. If his antlers have any shape or cemmetry , then you may want to give him another year just to see. Tony

Thanks for the reply. His spikes are about 10" tall, symetrical curving out from the base to a spread of maybe 8-10" then back in to about 6" at the tips. Both horns are straight up with no forward curve.

how bigs a normal body down there? is that a pretty big body for your area or does he look like a 1.5yo or 2.5 yo??if hes only 1 or 2 id wait...but if hes over that hed be out of the herd..sounds like a big spike..(rackwise) how much mass does it look like they have? any at all or are they thin?? how old do you think he is? i know deer down south are smaller then ours so i cant say by weight....that may be a mature buck down there...what would you say?

I would take him out nof the heard.he may be more,but most likely not much.JMHO

I shot one last year that had one antler that stuck straight up10 inches and the other one went out to the side 7 inches. After he was down , it was easy to tell that he an older deer. His teeth were worn and his muzzle was grey. Tony

Mauser, I would say he is a younger buck, no more than 2 1/2. Crisp colors on his coat, dark black muzzle, no sway back at all, etc. As far as mass, no more than about 2 inch round at the base. As far as down here goes, Good mature bucks are gonna be 180-200lbs on average. I' ve seen 150# 10pt and 270# 8 pts so hard to judge just on weight alone.

I have seen DOES with those type of antlers too. A guy in the town down the road has shot 2 of them. No points just spikes goin straight up!!! Now thats some weird genetics!!!

300 Win Mag,
This buck sounds a bit similar to the cowhorn spike you' ve described, only difference is this one had brow tines. I took him in 1999. Nice, strong body but his genetics were not so good...

if hes only 2.5 tops id leave him go this year and see what makes of him next year....or if it comes down to the end of the season and you want a deer id take him...but if i could get a nice buck and had alot of time to hunt id pass him this year...that is if this is a private farm or something..its its public land chances are someone else will get him....all depends on what you feel.....i cant say i dont live there and i dont know how the hunting is there....