Spike bucks

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

I am curious about spike bucks.  Are they simply young bucks that should be let go to grow for a couple of years or are they spikes instead of say a small six point because of poor genetics and need to be removed from the herd?

[Don Stokes]

In Mississippi, spikes are common because much of the state has a very late rut. Being born in July or August, the young bucks just don't have time to get very big the first year, which apparently reduces the size of their first rack the next year. Genetics also play a role- I've seen 1 1/2 year old bucks with nubs, spikes, fork horns and a 10 point all from the same small area, in a club where all the deer are aged and rack sizes recorded under a management program.

In the deer pens at MS State, they raised a buck that was a spike the first year and grew to B & C proportions when mature. The local biologists quit recommending the shooting of spikes after seeing that.

I think most folks agree that the "cow-horned" spike, one with big curved spikes, is probably a genetic condition and should be taken out.

[high mountain]

Buckeye...how long are the "spikes" on the deer that you are labeling a spike?

trying to wrap my head around this...but need some criteria.

[Deadbolt]

though a spike may always be a spike you will never know if ya shoot em.

i am a firm believer of shoot whatever ya want and a spike is in trouble in front of me.  

anyhoot there have been lots of studies and they have all said sometimes a spike will remain a spike but 9 out of 10 times they will grow larger...how large is a coin toss they may only grow to be a scrappy 6 but its still more then a spike.

there are so many factors that come into antler growth such as stress, food, genetics, weather, compeition, habitat, etc etc.  play with just one of those factors and a deer will never hit its true potential

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

I never really gave much thought to what size of spike I just thought spikes in general, as in why are they a spike instead of a fork horn or a six point, etc.

[Guru]

Pretty sure it's been proven that you just never really know the potential of any given deer unless he's given the chance to mature.

I really don't think the length or curvature has anything to do with it.

 Just what I've learned from reading a lot about this stuff...

[Richie Nell]

Spikes are babies.
Rarely, rarely, rarely is genetics an issue in a whitetail deer herd.
99.9% of bucks with spike antlers are 12-18 month old deer.  
Don, I am very confident those nubs, spikes, forkhorns and 10 points are all different ages.  Different as in 30-90 days apart.  The does will be bred there from November to April thus the wide range of birthdays.
There are occasions where very old bucks will have spike or very few branches in their antlers.  But that doesn't mean at all that they are genetically inferior.  The nutrition they eat is used up keeping the deer alive instead of used for secondary functions such as antlers.
When you have an older age buck structure in the herd and a good annual doe harvest the rut will be a 30 day buckarama.
Then fawns are born early, yearling bucks are actually 18 months old with 8 points, 2.5 yr. olds look like they're 4 yrs. old and the 4.5 yr. olds get alot of more visible with alot more bone on their head.

[Arwin]

Most of the time a spike is an immature deer BUT I have one on the wall that was aged 2.5yrs.  
 He may have gotten bigger, but I'll never know now,LOL! I have been passing on lots of forks and spikes this year in hopes that maybe a handfull will make it to next year. Kinda hard on state land but it's gotta start somewhere....

[Michael Arnette]

I shot one last year that had 13" spikes, another mercy kill. This buck was obviously 1.5 years old and had it not been for his injury would have been a wopper at 2.5 yrs. There are two family lines of deer where I hunt that both have very distinct racks. The one I shot last year comes from the line that tends towards wider with fewer pionts, at 2.5 yrs most of them only have 5-7 pionts but if they do get to 3.5 they have very impressive racks. The other line has narrower taller racks with many more pionts and tend to have more pionts at earlier ages. I think any buck from either line would be an awesome buck at 5.5 or 6.5 yrs old. It is too bad they never make it to that age. Nutrition plays a major role in the size of the rack while genetics play a role in the shape and structure.

If a buck is 2.5 years old or older and is still a spike or forkhorn or is lacking any serious growth, it might be considered for a cull. In most areas you can tell the age just by looking at the diameter of the antlers and bodyweight. Toothware can be very misleading.

What I am trying to say is that 1.5 years as a spike is not a good time to start culling.

[Michael Arnette]

Just my opinion from lots of reading and observing.

[Zach Mikita]

The Guru is correct in his post...I just shot a "spike" monday, but the deer weighed over 200lbs, had the largest hooves of any deer I've ever taken, and his teeth showed a substantial age difference in what he first appeared.  I believe this deer was 3-4 years old, but only had 5 1/2" spikes.  He was a very health deer and the jerky tastes amazing!

[John3]

Unless I was starving spikes will always get pass by me... Give them time.

[joevan125]

Young spikes get a pass on our land but if i saw one that weighed 200lbs i would for sure take him out of our herd.

[jerseyboy]

A spike buck has inferior genes. If the deer has good genes and good nutrition he could be a fork horn or larger in his first year. Check out the book the deer of north america its by Leonard lee rue on of the countrys foremost authorities on whitetail deer.He is a great author and photographer. If you go to almost any ranch they will let you shoot spikes and 3 points free of charge because they want them out of the gene pool.

[Don Stokes]

Deer, like people, have different genetic programming. Just because a young buck is a spike at 1 1/2 years doesn't mean that he's genetically inferior to the same-aged buck that sports more points. They may just mature and grow at different rates, and may become equivalent at maturity. I have a cousin who was so small as a kid that everyone thought he would always be that way. In high school he was about 5'4, too small for the Air Force. At 20 he was 5'10, and had become a jet fighter pilot.

If you shoot them, you'll never know (the deer, I mean). But if I see a healthy button buck that weighs 150# like the one my wife shot, I'll take him out! She thought he was a big doe. His jawbone said he was 1 1/2. There's obviously something there that just ain't right. I won't take the chance that he might pass those genes along. I guess I'd be more liberal with my cousin.

[joevan125]

I saw a article in a magazine where a spike buck was given lots of nutrition and several years to grow and that deer turned into a 200 class whitetail.

[Richie Nell]

jerseyboy,
Nothing too terribly personal here but...you and Leonard Lee Rue are over 100% wrong on this topic.  Remember he is a photographer and business man.
I wasn't going to mention this but I am a wildlife biologist and have managed whitetail deer for a few years now.  I have plenty of harvest data personally to prove my point, not to mention countless other studies.  
Deer genetics is an extremely minor issue when growing good antlered bucks.  

How many deer have you seen with real abnormalities? If there was any kind of problem with inferior genes running through a deer herd there would be real abnormalities with the skeletal system, reproductive system, etc.

100% of the 120+ hunting properties that I have managed saw the exact same result.  That result was..
when they stopped harvesting yearling bucks (spikes, cowhorns, small 4's, etc.) they began seeing more and more 2.5 year old bucks, then began harvesting more and more 3.5 year old bucks.  The reason they didn't see many decent antlered bucks before was because they weren't there.  The bucks were being harvested as soon as they got 1 point on there head which was their first year.  After three years of passing yearling bucks the buck age structure was where it needed to be to consistently grow and harvest good antlered deer.
 
Typically in a given summer, deer are born in a span of several months.  The first three months are critical. The early born fawns will have more time to get primo nutrion before winter.  Those are your 6-8 point bucks the next year. The later born fawns will have less nutrition available before winter thus producing smaller antlers their first year.
However they tend to equal out in their 2nd and 3rd year.

Does are bred anywhere from November to April.  This is dependant on how well the herd has been managed.
As mentioned on another forum, if young bucks are consistently passed up and there is a significant annual doe harvest the breeding will be done in 30 days.  It will be a wham bam thank ya mam Buckarama.  
That will allow for fawns to be born early and have good antlers 1.5 years later.

[twitchstick]

I think that most spikes are late fawns from the previous year. It is tough to know the potental of a deer at a young age. Thats why it's best to judge a deer's age not by antler size but by it's body . Knowing your local herd can play a big role in that. Utah went away from antler restictions because of a study of a deer that never had antlers larger than a 2x2 in 7 years. That deers antlers spread never was wider than about 14",and thats a mule deer. I did one year kill a spike that that had 18" spikes with 3" bases. When the antlers were cut off most people thought that it was a spike elk rack. I belive that the age of that deer was 3.5 years old. A friend had a picture of two bucks(in field and steam mag.) with over 30" spreads one was a 4x4 the other was a spike. The spike was an old saddle back for sure.

[vtmtnman]

Spikes are young bucks...1 1/2 years old around here.Let them walk and grow bigger.

[trashwood]

I tried to close with a spike for 3 or 4 yrs.  He was pretty old when I saw him.  Had a sure enough growed up body.  had one anlter that was maybe 18 or more inches long.  the other antler was a lump of stuff haning down over his eye.  I almost closed the deal from a iggloo like blind we made 10 yds into a winter what field.  I got a good look at him up close but no shot.  I bet he was 7 yo 8 yrs old.  that was the last time I saws him.  I kept track with the other ranches around us to see if he was taken.  I could not find out what happend to him.  so for three ar four yrs his odd antler growth stayed the same.

The game warden said that not only will and injury to anlter cause odd growth but the injury to a leg can cause and odd anlter growth?????

rusty