Spikes?

[WillowCity2506]

Good ol spike buck whitetail deer.

[AntlerCollector]

Nothing changes fast with TPWD. They still allow spikes to be killed and probably always will.

Heck they still think Timber rattlers are protected even though that law changed two years ago.

[FLASH_OUTDOORS]

I started out as a spike and now I’m a pope and young. You never know.


I hunt 100% National forest and the law allows one of my bucks to be a spike. If one walks within shooting distance of my tree next weekend I assure you I will shoot him. (Or at least at him). Then I will take him to my secret sausage place in Rosenberg and turn him into enough jalapeño cheese sausage to feed us and friends for a year.

But if I had private property, with feeders and cameras running year round, and I had expectations, the story would be different. Probably only be reserved for my boys first deer or something like that.


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[Snowflake Killa]

We can shoot them on our place but No one does. I don't believe in shooting them. I had a white deer a few years ago that was a spike. He turned into a 140 8pt. That's my study. We don't have 3 year old spikes that I know of.



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[Mexico]

God made spikes for little kids to shoot.

[Forman]

I honestly believe that the right 1.5 year old spike can become a 140" 6.5 year old 10 point. But that is rare and I don't want to let 6 years of spikes grow up and spread their inferior antler characteristics while I am waiting for super spike to mature. How do you know which one is super spike? How many does will the young spikes breed during this wait? They would be passing on inferior genetics.

I believe that antler characteristics are determined by nutrition and genetics.

Removing a spike is the easiest decision a manager can make. When you take a spike out you have responsibly taken the right step in managing your deer. No second guessing. While you are at it take out the oldest doe. The spike will make nice cutlets and the doe great sausage.

[rtp]

Boy do they eat good. [emoji1848][emoji3052][emoji488]


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[Bucknaked]

I honestly believe that the right 1.5 year old spike can become a 140" 6.5 year old 10 point. But that is rare and I don't want to let 6 years of spikes grow up and spread their inferior antler characteristics while I am waiting for super spike to mature. How do you know which one is super spike? How many does will the young spikes breed during this wait? They would be passing on inferior genetics.

I believe that antler characteristics are determined by nutrition and genetics.

Removing a spike is the easiest decision a manager can make. When you take a spike out you have responsibly taken the right step in managing your deer. No second guessing. While you are at it take out the oldest doe. The spike will make nice cutlets and the doe great sausage.

But which ones will be that 150+ You will never know if you don’t let them get some age on them first! If you kill your spikes you may be killing your herd….

[Paycheck]

What I have read is you don't know what they will become. But we have plenty of bucks on our lease and that gives us (wife and I share a spot on lease) one more deer to shoot.

[TX_Hoghunter]

I honestly believe that the right 1.5 year old spike can become a 140" 6.5 year old 10 point. But that is rare and I don't want to let 6 years of spikes grow up and spread their inferior antler characteristics while I am waiting for super spike to mature. How do you know which one is super spike? How many does will the young spikes breed during this wait? They would be passing on inferior genetics.

I believe that antler characteristics are determined by nutrition and genetics.

Removing a spike is the easiest decision a manager can make. When you take a spike out you have responsibly taken the right step in managing your deer. No second guessing. While you are at it take out the oldest doe. The spike will make nice cutlets and the doe great sausage.

The only trouble here is your thinking has been proven wrong in every single study done since the TPWD study that was deeply flawed. Back then the average buck shot was 1 1/2 years of age. They stopped their study at age 3. Studies have shown that be age 4 the average spike is within 1/2 an inch of his counter parts and by age 5 their is no difference. All you are doing by shooting spikes is reducing the number of bucks you will have in the older age classes. By shooting spikes you are just killing the offspring of your yearling does. I know when we hunted the hill country there would be as much as 4 months difference in out fawns in some years. That has a large affect on which ones are spikes.

-john

[Mexico]

I honestly believe that the right 1.5 year old spike can become a 140" 6.5 year old 10 point. But that is rare and I don't want to let 6 years of spikes grow up and spread their inferior antler characteristics while I am waiting for super spike to mature. How do you know which one is super spike? How many does will the young spikes breed during this wait? They would be passing on inferior genetics.

I believe that antler characteristics are determined by nutrition and genetics.

Removing a spike is the easiest decision a manager can make. When you take a spike out you have responsibly taken the right step in managing your deer. No second guessing. While you are at it take out the oldest doe. The spike will make nice cutlets and the doe great sausage.

So you're High Fenced?

[deerwatcher51]

All you are doing by shooting spikes is reducing the number of bucks you will have in the older age classes.

-john

I hunted a lease west of Uvalde 20+ years ago and our Biologist wanted us to kill all spikes. The Biologist changed his mind and stopped us halfway through the season because we were about to wipe out an age class.

[da_pepper]

I started out as a spike and now I’m a pope and young. You never know.


I hunt 100% National forest and the law allows one of my bucks to be a spike. If one walks within shooting distance of my tree next weekend I assure you I will shoot him. (Or at least at him). Then I will take him to my secret sausage place in Rosenberg and turn him into enough jalapeño cheese sausage to feed us and friends for a year.

But if I had private property, with feeders and cameras running year round, and I had expectations, the story would be different. Probably only be reserved for my boys first deer or something like that.


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Agree with this.

[BarBBar]

Google Deer University podcast from the Mississippi State University Deer Lab.

Episode 040 - "When is it appropriate to cull? The purpose makes all the difference"

[switchbackxt]

Nothing changes fast with TPWD. They still allow spikes to be killed and probably always will.

Heck they still think Timber rattlers are protected even though that law changed two years ago.

I thought I read somewhere that the timber rattler was no longer protected. I checked the endangered and threatened species list and they are no longer on it.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/nongame/listed-species/media/fedState-ListedSpeciesComplete-3302020.pdf