When to shoot a spike?

[Shane]

Of course I do. The problem is, if your herd buck/doe ratio is out of whack then you are going to have the late born fawns. The land can only carry so many, so you should manage your place for it's carrying capacity and the ratio should be 1/1. Any place can produce good deer if you manage it correctly and your neighbors don't fight you.

True. If you are in the enviable position of having too many deer and too many bucks on your place, then killing even yearling spikes is probably a good thing to do. That rarely happens in low fence country though. High fence management is a different ballgame.

[big_smith]

I don't shoot spikes, and I have never seen a spike in person that is older than 1.5yoa. I know they exist, I have just never seen one. With that being said, let me lay out a scenario. To affect the herd, you must take out all the spikes. Would you agree? With that being said, lets say you have 7 guys hunting 700 acres. On that same property you have 25 1.5 year old bucks. You are coming out of a drought, and therefore half of the yearling population are spikes. Therefore, you have to kill 14+ spikes to make a difference in your herd. Really, 7 guys are going to burn both buck tags on spikes. I call BS. Shooting spikes is done because they are easy to identify, and people want to say they killed a buck. This is from years of being told that we should not shoot does, which has proven to be false science. I have hunted the same least for the past 12 years. When we started we killed a few spikes, just because the guys wanted to kill a buck, but we put the smack down on the does. The first couple seasons we saw probably half the yearling population of bucks as spikes. After 12 years of aggressive harvest of does, and minimal and selective buck harvest, we might see 2 spikes a year. Do what you want on your property, just understand that in the grand scheme of things, shooting a spike does very little to influence the genetic potential of the property good or bad. Shooting all spikes will do one thing, it will reduce the number of mature deer you have down the road.

[lovemylegacy]

Spikes are legal fare, taste good and offer beginners an oppurtunity for a live deer target. A spike that looks like a fawn or a doe are usually young and should be allowed to walk, a spike thats big in body should shot on sight.

[noflyzone]

Have any of you guys knocking the Kerr study ever been to the entire symposium and listened to the biologists explain the study?

The studies were conducted with extreme control, even down to the amount of water and shade animals were given in their habitat. The animals that were stressed all got the same stress. The animals fed supplements were all fed exactly the same. Etc.Etc.

Time and time again 1.5 year old branched antler deer out-performed 1.5 year old spike deer. Leave yearlings out of the argument.

THAT BEING SAID, DON'T EVEN START MANAGING YOUR BUCKS UNTIL YOU ARE AT 1:1 (BUCKOE)

I would bet a crisp $1 bill that all you guys worrying about spikes have about 5 doe for every buck anyway. OR you don't have a feeding program in place, other than a few corn slingers. LET IT GO killing a spike ain't gonna help your 100 acre deer lease in east texas

WANT TO HELP YOUR DEER HERD????? Plant food plots! Get on an MLD program! Form a co-op with your neighbors to set guidlines for a larger block of land!

[Encinal]

Of course I do. The problem is, if your herd buck/doe ratio is out of whack then you are going to have the late born fawns. The land can only carry so many, so you should manage your place for it's carrying capacity and the ratio should be 1/1. Any place can produce good deer if you manage it correctly and your neighbors don't fight you.

And if you have fewer bucks than does... and are trying to get to one to one... why would you be shooting bucks?

you should let a couple of fawn crops go through and start working on does until you can balance it out...

Ratios don't matter.

All that matters is that you have enough does to put the amount of buck fawns on the ground for you to kill 5 -7 years later.

[Encinal]

Have any of you guys knocking the Kerr study ever been to the entire symposium and listened to the biologists explain the study?

The studies were conducted with extreme control, even down to the amount of water and shade animals were given in their habitat. The animals that were stressed all got the same stress. The animals fed supplements were all fed exactly the same. Etc.Etc.

Time and time again 1.5 year old branched antler deer out-performed 1.5 year old spike deer. Leave yearlings out of the argument.

THAT BEING SAID, DON'T EVEN START MANAGING YOUR BUCKS UNTIL YOU ARE AT 1:1 (BUCKOE)

I would bet a crisp $1 bill that all you guys worrying about spikes have about 5 doe for every buck anyway. OR you don't have a feeding program in place, other than a few corn slingers. LET IT GO killing a spike ain't gonna help your 100 acre deer lease in east texas

WANT TO HELP YOUR DEER HERD????? Plant food plots! Get on an MLD program! Form a co-op with your neighbors to set guidlines for a larger block of land!

Yes.

[rubydog]

The deer in your avatar was a 1.5 year old spike huh Doe are the biggest thing to manage in the herd. They carry more of the residual genetic code than the bucks do. If you have the herd under control with buck/doe ratio, then the little spikes won't breed. Then you should kill them for meat

What about yearling does that cycle and get bred late in the season and may or may not produce enough milk? Those off spring will most certainly be spikes during the next season. So you are saying kill those too huh?

[Bilbo]

Have any of you guys knocking the Kerr study ever been to the entire symposium and listened to the biologists explain the study?

The studies were conducted with extreme control, even down to the amount of water and shade animals were given in their habitat. The animals that were stressed all got the same stress. The animals fed supplements were all fed exactly the same. Etc.Etc.

Time and time again 1.5 year old branched antler deer out-performed 1.5 year old spike deer. Leave yearlings out of the argument.

THAT BEING SAID, DON'T EVEN START MANAGING YOUR BUCKS UNTIL YOU ARE AT 1:1 (BUCKOE)

I would bet a crisp $1 bill that all you guys worrying about spikes have about 5 doe for every buck anyway. OR you don't have a feeding program in place, other than a few corn slingers. LET IT GO killing a spike ain't gonna help your 100 acre deer lease in east texas

WANT TO HELP YOUR DEER HERD????? Plant food plots! Get on an MLD program! Form a co-op with your neighbors to set guidlines for a larger block of land!

BINGO!!! I like your ideas!

All in all, regardless of what you do, if your neighboring properties aren't on the same page it doesn't matter.

[RiverRat1]

True. If you are in the enviable position of having too many deer and too many bucks on your place, then killing even yearling spikes is probably a good thing to do. That rarely happens in low fence country though. High fence management is a different ballgame.

Whats too many? I hunt a tiny wooded area. Maybe a total of 100 acres of unhunted land around me (but plenty of redneck homes all around). Last year I saw 6 different bucks in one sitting. If I want a bigger buck, do I shoot none of them or let the decent 8 walk and shoot the scrawny 3 point?

Anti-spike shooters act like we lay down fawn spikes. I shoot the biggest or oldest looking spike I think is around and then try to get a good buck with the other tag.

Either way I say a true 1.5 yo spike should be shot if there are other 1.5 yo bucks around that a 8 points. Why would you want the spike to breed even IF he eventually grows to an 8 or 10 pointer? He is still passing on slower growth genes.

[rubydog]

Have any of you guys knocking the Kerr study ever been to the entire symposium and listened to the biologists explain the study?

The studies were conducted with extreme control, even down to the amount of water and shade animals were given in their habitat. The animals that were stressed all got the same stress. The animals fed supplements were all fed exactly the same. Etc.Etc.

Time and time again 1.5 year old branched antler deer out-performed 1.5 year old spike deer. Leave yearlings out of the argument.

THAT BEING SAID, DON'T EVEN START MANAGING YOUR BUCKS UNTIL YOU ARE AT 1:1 (BUCKOE)

I would bet a crisp $1 bill that all you guys worrying about spikes have about 5 doe for every buck anyway. OR you don't have a feeding program in place, other than a few corn slingers. LET IT GO killing a spike ain't gonna help your 100 acre deer lease in east texas

WANT TO HELP YOUR DEER HERD????? Plant food plots! Get on an MLD program! Form a co-op with your neighbors to set guidlines for a larger block of land!

Yes to most all the above with exception to the 100 acre lease in East Texas. I left that neck of the woods 27 years ago. Looks like your still there. Say hi to my cousins. You might find them doing nite surveys from dirt roads in the area.

[Wood Man]

Interesting hearing everyone's views.
Here's mine. Pass on yearling spikes. Make a good judgment call on the rest of them.

[JSAPP]

I only shoot spikes if they at at least 6" tall or greater.

This kills me. If you have a group of 1.5 yr old spikes (which 90%+ are 1.5) why would you shoot the one that has produced the most bone. If they are the same age you should cull the one with the shortest spikes if you are going to shoot a spike. I hate hearing people say that once they are past the ears shoot'em. Age people, it's all about age. Even when were talking about spikes. Though it happens, there are very few spikes past 1.5 years old.

[barnett77859]

mq32 thats it

[Encinal]

The deer in your avatar was a 1.5 year old spike huh Doe are the biggest thing to manage in the herd. They carry more of the residual genetic code than the bucks do. If you have the herd under control with buck/doe ratio, then the little spikes won't breed. Then you should kill them for meat

Does having more to do with antlers that bucks is absolutely unproven conjecture...

[txdukklr]

i won't shoot 1.5 year old spikes anymore. . . . .

2.5 year old I want them dead as soon as possible