I was wondering if any of you folks that own deer or deer farms can help settle a old dispute between a few of my hunting buddies. Its the old dispute over "once a spike, always a spike". (talking about young whitetail bucks.) So what does everyone think is this true or not?
Thanks
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TRUE.
..... A University of Mississippi study that suggests that spikes are less likely to develope more than three points on a side than yearlings that have more points on their first rack.
Yox, you will have to take it from here. You have my book. look it up for him.
very very untrue. there is ample published research now that suggests that ,given proper nutrition, any two yearling bucks have ALMOST invisible potiental. meaning that... if you have two spikes and one comes from a long line of record book ancestors and the other has no record book ancestors.....then obviously, one has less potiental than the other. but i have personally witnessed very inferior yearling bucks transform into PY bucks at only 2 1/2 years old. granted, that is the exception, not the rule. but i have seen many many others who went from scrubby little runts to absolute trophy caliber when they reach maturity.
if you want to shoot bigger deer, use your head. ask yourself this... how do deer get bigger?
and while im here i may as well answer, because someone will likely not see my point.
they grow! how do they grow? sure as hell not by being killed. it takes time to grow. if you want to shoot a big buck, then why in the world would you shoot a small one? Want big bucks? LET LITTLE ONES WALK! that was in all caps, that means i was YELLING IT! i was yelling it because we are taxidermists and we dont make a living off of 1 1/2 year old bucks.
can you imagine what kind of monsters would be walking around if no one ever killed another yearling?
let me tell you my resources. many published research results, several acquaintences who raise deer, and my own personal experiences in the wild since i stopped shooting young bucks in the areas where i hunt. i have shot three bucks in the last 5 years. and the three of them possess just under 510 inches of antler. one of those deer i had personally passed up the year before and one other came along after i had passed up another buck on the same outing. if i had shot the smaller one i would have missed out on even seeing the larger one. the third buck was luck, i had a close call with him the year before, but he winded me. the next year he just happend along.
i cant stress it enough. just let them walk.
I've read the articles that state a spike will always be a spike, also. Not true. Our buck had little 4" spikes when we bought him. The next year he was a six, an eight the next couple of years, and a twelve (10 + 2 small 'kickers') the last two years. BUT, while he has had a nice, symmetrical rack, he's never had much mass to it. We even experimented with the high-priced whitetail feeds. Did it make a difference when compared to the previous year? Nope.
Over the years, I've seen some massive spike bucks. I believe those will probably develop into a pretty nice rack. The little spikes, I suspect will be much like our buck.
I think the number one importance is GENETICS. Take people, for example. You can pick 2 kids from 2 different families. One family has relatively tall people in it, the other short people. Give them both the optimum nutrition. Will they be the same size as adults? Very unlikely. They will only reach what is their genetic potential. You can't feed a Pygmy all he can eat and expect him to grow to the size of Shaq. You'll just end up with a fat, short guy. Same with any other animal. Our buck doesn't have the P&Y genetics (nor the very high price that comes with those genetics).
Our fallow herd sire had exceptional genetics. He went from a spike to a palmated rack the next year. The bucks we got from his mother all developed rapidly, too.
So, if you let the spikes go by and let them grow for another year or two (or more), they'll most likely develop into decent racks. But will they be P&Y or B&C? Depends on the part of the country you are in, the feed available and the genetics and other factors such as over-crowding.
In south-central MO, particularly around the MO/ARK border, there are a LOT of whitetails. The 'average' buck killed there is a small eight point. Little spread, mass or tine length. Of course, there are exceptional deer taken from time-to-time, particularly when they are located near alfalfa fields! Eye-to-nose usually about 7", 19" just behind the neck. Weights of about 135 lbs. A 200 lb. deer is a BIG deer around here. Almost never see an e-n measurement of 8, or an inside spread of 20+ inches. (I am an official scorer for MO Big Bucks, and have measured a LOT of deer from these parts!).
Dave, Thanks! Im still reading that book. I recall the study you spoke of, and recall not agreeing with all of it, but...
Spikes can be fawns, yearlings, 2 year olds and even old bucks. The first time I raised a spike here with good genetic background, was a deer that was born very late in the year. At one year old he was a spike. He wasnt a year old until late July! Four years later he has almost a ten inch circumference in June. Hes just bulbing up multiple points where the G-2s should be, and he looks like hes already over 20 inches wide, and hasnt started turning in yet.
Another spike I raised had almost 2 inch spikes as a fawn, at 6 months old. Hes one heck of a nice yearling this June. So much for theories!
Id say some spikes may never meet their genetic potential, and still others, like a 2 year old just might not be much at all...ever.
Spikes result from multiple reasons. Late birth, diet, the loss of the mother, genetics, weather, etc.. Some deer are just late bloomers. I would only want to cull out the 2-1/2 year and older spikes from the herd. Tell your buddies to ante up on the bet!
Check into the Texas Parks and Wildlife Kerr Wildlife Management studies which have been on going for the last 35 years on this particular subject and do lean to one side.