Spike Buck clarification

[helibow]

I've got my own opinion that I will reserve for now... but we are having a discussion with our lease "captain" about bringing in wives/kids to bust the large number of spikes we are seeing this year.
There are a number of angles on this, some say spikes will/can grow into decent deer... some say once a spike, always a spike and it needs to go before it spreads it's vile seed throughout the herd.
I'd like to hear some real experiences on what you all have seen on your places. Are your spikes staying spikes or do they get any better with nutrition in the next year??

[jerp]

Helibow - check your private messages...
JP

[Jamie]

With most of Texas being in a severe drought starting last winter...I would not go busting all the spikes.....even if they are a bit behind in antler growth, those same kids could be shooting some cool 8 points in 2 or 3 years.

[BrianL]

When you see a spike, shoot a doe. Spikes are usually a result of late fawning, which is due to buck doe ratios that are too spread. When you get to a 1:2 ratio it is time to start worring about spikes. As you bring your ratio closer together, the spike problem will correct itself for the most part.

[big_smith]

I don't think the verdict is in just yet on them. No they don't usually remain spikes, but the might be behind the curve. Recent King Ranch studies show that the almost always develop branch antlered but are less likely to turn into high end trophies. This last year in Texas there was a terrrible drought. Spike antlers can be caused by a number of factors including late fawning date, poor nutrition, or genetics. Due to the fact that there was not much nutritional food to eat, this might result in an abnormally large number of spike bucks. Personally I would rather have a kid shoot a doe than a spike.

[Brad]

Go to this site. Everything you could ever want to know about deer research and more.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/wma/wildlife_management/kerr_wma/research/

[hanyak]

From what I have read and learned, the old thinking "once a spike-always a spike" is not true. In fact, I saw a program on tv last year in which a spike was tagged and was a 140 class deer the next year. The main point that was addressed was, if it is a young deer and a spike, let it grow and see what happens. However, if it is an older deer and a spike, then it is an inferior buck that needs to be culled from the breeding pool. Some deer are genetically superior and all they need is their "blossom" year in which everything falls together. Sometimes because of nutrition, stress, environment, etc. an animal may not be able to reach it's full genetic potential. What my policy is on spikes, if it's still a spike by it's 3rd year, it's a cull. Just my .02.


"That's why they call it huntin'"

[bowhunterhelm]

1 1/2 year old skike, let him walk. 3 1/2 or older take him out!

[Walker]

If your deer densities are where they should be and your sex ratios are in line then whack all the spikes along with your full quota of does.

[Aggie PhD]

There are alot of other problems you need to consider before you attack spikes. Is you buck to doe ratio in line? 1:1 or 1:2? Are you hunting in an area that has high deer density? Can you afford to remove that many individuals in the 1.5yr age class? Most spike you see are because of being a late fawn. Depending on the which research you look at, will determine what spikes do later in life. TPWD research says on AVERAGE they underperform fork antlered yearlings. MS state research shows no trend, and some of Kroll's latest work in the field shows they turn into decent bucks. But the last time I saw the data from Krolls study they were early in the research prgm. Is the place highly managed? If you have to shoot a ton of deer to maintain the proper population level, I would hammer the doesfirst, then the spikes(if you can afford to remove a bunch of deer from that age class)

[Dave]

Like Jamie said, a young spike is probably going to grow into an 8 point by 3.5. There is definitely no truth to the idea that once a spike always a spike, although some will always be spikes most will grow branched antlers.

The only time I would recommend absolute removal of spikes would be on a highly managed operation where you have all the other variable affecting the deer herd under control and are targeting large antler growth as your goal. In my opinion that is a very small percentage of operations.

[Snakelover]

Well, I certainly don't believe "once a spike, always a spike." We had a large number of spikes on our place last year. We intended to take some of them off, but no one ever did. So most of them lived to see another year. Well, this year, we have a large number of sort of mid-class (6s, 7s, 8s) bucks. Not quite trophies but look like they'll make good deer in a year or two. Now, I have no way of knowing for sure, but I do believe that many of these are the spikes we saw last year with another year of growth on them. I think it's ok to thin out spikes, but I don't necessarily think they're "inferior."

Oh, by the way, Helibow...

[happy bowhunter]

We shoot spikes when we have an overabundance of 1.5 old bucks,
The biologist said that while spikes do not always remain spikes,they usually will not be as good as forked antlered 1.5 old bucks

[Muygrande]

I am glad that this thread has stayed friendly so far. I think the reason that so many people disagree on this subject is that everyone has different goals. If you already have your buck/doe ratio and nutrition problems taken care of and you are managing for the highest p&y scores possible then maybe you should take yearling spikes out as the evidence tends to show that they probably will never be quite as big as branched antlered yearlings. If your goal is to have the most mature huntable bucks possible, like on my lease, we never shoot yearling spikes. I don't think any "experts" would disagree that on most deer ranges the problem is the lack of mature bucks and lack of adequate nutrition not bad genetics. One high fence ranch that I did some work for shoots every yearling buck that doesn't have at least 6 points, but they are managing the ranch to take only a couple of "super bucks" every year. It is all about your goals.

[LostHawg]

Spikes are good eatin'!