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2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? #6956444 11/12/17 03:19 AM
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Had a 2.0-2.5 yo spike come out yesterday afternoon hunt. Looked like 6" or so spikes. I elected to let him walk; what would you have done?

Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6956467 11/12/17 03:34 AM
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A spike over 1 1/2 old is shot on my place.

Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6956495 11/12/17 04:04 AM
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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6956595 11/12/17 11:00 AM
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I passed on one yesterday. Just didn't feel messing with a dead deer this early in the season. Waiting on my big 10pt.


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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6956678 11/12/17 01:34 PM
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FWIW, the last time I spoke with a TP&WD biologist, he insisted that out off all the spike jaws he inspects every year, all these years, he's never seen a spike over 1.5 years old. He said every spike is under 1.5, period.

What's y'all thoughts?

I'm saving our spike jaws this year to show him (without telling him they are are all spikes), just to test.........

Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6956692 11/12/17 01:43 PM
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I take great pride in preparing cow horns for the ice chest.


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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: QuitShootinYoungBucks] #6956696 11/12/17 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted By: Big8
A spike over 1 1/2 old is shot on my place.
Originally Posted By: QuitShootinYoungBucks
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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: Big8] #6956764 11/12/17 02:52 PM
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Originally Posted By: Big8
A spike over 1 1/2 old is shot on my place.


This was my understanding, that it is most people's policy.


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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: maximus_flavius] #6956805 11/12/17 03:38 PM
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Originally Posted By: maximus_flavius
FWIW, the last time I spoke with a TP&WD biologist, he insisted that out off all the spike jaws he inspects every year, all these years, he's never seen a spike over 1.5 years old. He said every spike is under 1.5, period.

What's y'all thoughts?

I'm saving our spike jaws this year to show him (without telling him they are are all spikes), just to test.........


Think we should send them all here for third party verification... http://www.deerage.com


Donate to TX Youth hunting program.... better to donate then to waste it in taxes

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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6956806 11/12/17 03:39 PM
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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: maximus_flavius] #6956927 11/12/17 05:59 PM
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Originally Posted By: maximus_flavius
FWIW, the last time I spoke with a TP&WD biologist, he insisted that out off all the spike jaws he inspects every year, all these years, he's never seen a spike over 1.5 years old. He said every spike is under 1.5, period.

What's y'all thoughts?

I'm saving our spike jaws this year to show him (without telling him they are are all spikes), just to test.........


That's my experience as well. The only spikes I have are deer that were born late in the year (Sept-Dec) and are not even a year and a half old the next fall.

Spikes over 1.5 are rare as hen's teeth.


Crotchety old bastidge
Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6957198 11/12/17 10:12 PM
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I can share a personal experience on old spikes. I’ll spare you all the details, but he was a wary old fellow. Scrawny Body, ugly spikes that were somewhat deformed, gray on the muzzle, and had two old healed bullet wounds. An old deer, and very smart. Way past youth. It was on family land and it was decades ago, so I assume an old smart deer could last unseen in many acres for many years in a place like that. Nobody had ever seen him. I have read that if they are real survivors, they can live a long time, and at some point the racks get smaller. If you want to hear the story on that old spike, I will share, but don’t want to waste your time if you don’t want to hear it.

And , just to reinforce that point, we once found a 12point that had gotten his rack jammed in a tangle of saplings. He had starved. Nobody had ever seen that buck before, and he had never been on any of the game cameras. Big deer. Old deer. Smart deer.


Not my monkeys, not my circus...
Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: therancher] #6957215 11/12/17 10:22 PM
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Originally Posted By: therancher


Spikes over 1.5 are rare as hen's teeth.


BINGO!!!

In 20 years I have seen a grand total of ONE! He was a spike at 2 and also 3. Never could catch up with him in person. All I had was game cam pics.

Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: Big8] #6957268 11/12/17 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted By: Big8
A spike over 1 1/2 old is shot on my place.

Same here, we let the 1.5 yr olds walk.


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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: JCB] #6958448 11/13/17 06:15 PM
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Originally Posted By: JCB
Originally Posted By: therancher


Spikes over 1.5 are rare as hen's teeth.


BINGO!!!

In 20 years I have seen a grand total of ONE! He was a spike at 2 and also 3. Never could catch up with him in person. All I had was game cam pics.
50 years of deer hunting here, and I've seen (and killed) exactly 2. We may have a 3 yo spike on our place this year. If someone gets him, I'll post up some pics.

BTW - Our biologist recommends killing all spikes regardless of age. This is on a place with an average deer density and good buck to doe ratio. Your results may vary.


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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: maximus_flavius] #6958537 11/13/17 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted By: maximus_flavius
FWIW, the last time I spoke with a TP&WD biologist, he insisted that out off all the spike jaws he inspects every year, all these years, he's never seen a spike over 1.5 years old. He said every spike is under 1.5, period.

What's y'all thoughts?

I'm saving our spike jaws this year to show him (without telling him they are are all spikes), just to test.........


I don't believe he is right. We have shot a few spikes that were 10 +/- inches long and weight 130 lbs on the hoof. Comparing them to other deer they looked like 2 year olds and by weight they weigh what the 2 year olds weigh.


It's hell eatin em live
Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: redchevy] #6958554 11/13/17 07:21 PM
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Originally Posted By: redchevy
Originally Posted By: maximus_flavius
FWIW, the last time I spoke with a TP&WD biologist, he insisted that out off all the spike jaws he inspects every year, all these years, he's never seen a spike over 1.5 years old. He said every spike is under 1.5, period.

What's y'all thoughts?

I'm saving our spike jaws this year to show him (without telling him they are are all spikes), just to test.........


I don't believe he is right. We have shot a few spikes that were 10 +/- inches long and weight 130 lbs on the hoof. Comparing them to other deer they looked like 2 year olds and by weight they weigh what the 2 year olds weigh.



http://www.deerage.com/ Cementum annuli forensic aging.


Donate to TX Youth hunting program.... better to donate then to waste it in taxes

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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6958576 11/13/17 07:39 PM
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I want to kill one frequenting one of my feeders but his spike flattens a bit toward the tip and has the slightest fork at the very tip. From binos and scope he is a spike on one side but I saw a good shot of him on camera which saved his young life Saturday morning.

Last edited by BassBuster1; 11/13/17 07:42 PM. Reason: I can not spell and I have huge fingers which can not type!
Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6958678 11/13/17 09:06 PM
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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: BOBO the Clown] #6958690 11/13/17 09:16 PM
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Originally Posted By: BOBO the Clown
Originally Posted By: redchevy
Originally Posted By: maximus_flavius
FWIW, the last time I spoke with a TP&WD biologist, he insisted that out off all the spike jaws he inspects every year, all these years, he's never seen a spike over 1.5 years old. He said every spike is under 1.5, period.

What's y'all thoughts?

I'm saving our spike jaws this year to show him (without telling him they are are all spikes), just to test.........


I don't believe he is right. We have shot a few spikes that were 10 +/- inches long and weight 130 lbs on the hoof. Comparing them to other deer they looked like 2 year olds and by weight they weigh what the 2 year olds weigh.



http://www.deerage.com/ Cementum annuli forensic aging.


Would love to send some stuff off, but the wait is too much for me, I loose interest in it. On the ones we have shot they also had the correct 2 cusp 3rd tooth which would indicate they were 2.5 also. I feel like I know how old they were and don't want to invest the time in it. I do still have the jaw off the doe I shot last year that I think was over 10 and may do something with it. A buddy of mine has sent off a few that came back at 8-9 years old and he says her teeth look way worse than those bucks.


It's hell eatin em live
Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: redchevy] #6958720 11/13/17 09:31 PM
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Originally Posted By: redchevy
Originally Posted By: BOBO the Clown
Originally Posted By: redchevy
Originally Posted By: maximus_flavius
FWIW, the last time I spoke with a TP&WD biologist, he insisted that out off all the spike jaws he inspects every year, all these years, he's never seen a spike over 1.5 years old. He said every spike is under 1.5, period.

What's y'all thoughts?

I'm saving our spike jaws this year to show him (without telling him they are are all spikes), just to test.........


I don't believe he is right. We have shot a few spikes that were 10 +/- inches long and weight 130 lbs on the hoof. Comparing them to other deer they looked like 2 year olds and by weight they weigh what the 2 year olds weigh.



http://www.deerage.com/ Cementum annuli forensic aging.


Would love to send some stuff off, but the wait is too much for me, I loose interest in it. On the ones we have shot they also had the correct 2 cusp 3rd tooth which would indicate they were 2.5 also. I feel like I know how old they were and don't want to invest the time in it. I do still have the jaw off the doe I shot last year that I think was over 10 and may do something with it. A buddy of mine has sent off a few that came back at 8-9 years old and he says her teeth look way worse than those bucks.


Solves a lot of arguments

Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: BOBO the Clown] #6958761 11/13/17 10:06 PM
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Originally Posted By: BOBO the Clown

Solves a lot of arguments


Lol, not that we argue over it, but they will make a good stocking stuffer for my brother and dad, I think I'm going to order a few, thanks for the link up


It's hell eatin em live
Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: DQ Kid] #6959483 11/14/17 12:16 PM
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rifle before they become 4 points at 2.5 and probably no more than a 6 or 7 point when fully mature and you cannot shoot them because of the AR rule hammer


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Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: Stub] #6959530 11/14/17 01:01 PM
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Originally Posted By: Stub
rifle before they become 4 points at 2.5 and probably no more than a 6 or 7 point when fully mature and you cannot shoot them because of the AR rule hammer


That's kinda what I'm thinking.

What percentage of spikes at 1.5 EVER make a nice buck?

I would guess that 99% of 2.5 year old spikes never make a decent buck.

Re: 2.5 yo Spike - Shoot or Let go One More Year?? [Re: maximus_flavius] #6959559 11/14/17 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted By: maximus_flavius
Originally Posted By: Stub
rifle before they become 4 points at 2.5 and probably no more than a 6 or 7 point when fully mature and you cannot shoot them because of the AR rule hammer


That's kinda what I'm thinking.

What percentage of spikes at 1.5 EVER make a nice buck?

I would guess that 99% of 2.5 year old spikes never make a decent buck.


85% can make nice bucks but less than 1% will make trophies where we hunt so we shoot them if they are 2nd year spikes or have no brows their 2nd year.


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