My friend that has been hunting many, many years suggested to this noob that I remove this deer from the gene pool on my father's land. Says by the looks of him, he should be a nice 6 or 8 pointer by now. I'm hesitant to use up my tag on this guy and miss a chance to get something nicer but we don't have a lot of big bucks where I hunt, they're too smart to come this close to civilization. The 6 pointer in the bottom photo I will leave in hopes of seeing him next year. Jim FYI the time stamp is 1 year off, these were taken this month.
Id leave him. You cant really tell genetics till they are 3 or 4 anyways. Ive seen tons of spikes and never felt the need to shoot one just so he wouldnt breed.
I can't say that I agree with your friend. There's a lot of studies that show that the single determining factor in the size of a deer's rack is age. Let him age and he's going to grow a bigger rack, period. Unless you've got a multi-thousand acre high fenced property you're not going to be able to effectively control the genetics of your local herd to the point of making an impact. If you're looking for bigger bucks, let them grow bigger racks.
Tell you friend to pound sand. Shoot what you want to shoot, it is your trophy. I had an 18" 4 pointer last year that had to be at least 2-3 years old and I let him pass. I want that bad boy in a couple of years
I have to wonder if he's related to this one: I took this one in 2008 with my shotty. My first deer ever so I really didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Would you consider this one a "spike" as well? I have no problem passing on the little bucks and letting them grow. If I don't see a bigger one, I'll get a doe or two to stock the freezer. Jim
You aren't able to tell anything about those deer's genes, they are just young bucks that haven't had a chance to grow up.
I agree with everyone on the fact that you should let that particular deer walk, but in some cases it's smart to cull out the spikes if they are over 2 or 3 years old. If they have gone that long without growing any tines, it is probably best to remove them from the herd. Everyone has a different definition of "cull" due to the deer on their respective land. It looks like he's trying to grow a browtine on that left beam so if you see him again next year and he has not grown any other tines, I'd whack him. You never know if he'll grow into a bigger buck; only time will tell. He's got a really thin neck and a skinny belly showing the characteristics of a 1 1/2-21/2 year old deer. Good choice on passing him up for now
