Has anybody ever seen a 3 1/2, 4 1/2 year old spike? I haven't seen one on any of my places in all my years of hunting. What happen to them, did they all get shot before that age, did they die off due to genetics, or did improve from a spike to a 4,6,8 pt? Yes I have seen just about all the studies that have been done.

We shot one this past weekend that was every bit 3 years old, and I'm leaning towards four. Big ole fat body and we didn't figure he would ever be anything more so one of the kids took him as his first deer!

I encourage our family hunters to harvest spikes that are older than 1 1/2. Spikes in their third November are genetically inferior for breeding IMO.

Seen a few that looked by appearance to be older, but never shot and aged one. They definitely weren't yearlings though. There are two sides (opinions) to this debate. Have a cousin that owns a HF operation. He has seen spikes turn into nice deer as they got older. Some people shoot every spike they see, some give them another year. I like to give mine another year hoping they will turn into something good.

I've killed exactly 1 in my 45 years of deer hunting that was verifiably over 1 year old. Never killed, seen, or even heard of one over 3. At least, not until I read this thread.

I did shoot one about 25yrs ago between San Saba & Richland Springs. Teeth were all worn down, pot belly, sway back, and spikes about 14 - 15" long. They weren't straight up but had good mass at the head then went wide and up.....Look like he was an overage buck and on his way down........wish I had a picture. Guys on the the lease said I shoulda put him in the big spike contest in San Saba, but I didn't.

Now, having said that, I tend to agree with the premise that shooting a spike just because he's a spike doesn't make sense. It seems that too many factors including age, available water & food, etc come into play on whether a spike will always be a spike.

I've seen a cpl that were 3.5+.. probably 12-14" hvy horned spikes. No clue what happened to those deer, but couldn't shoot them; lease rules required atleast 4pts on 1 side @ that time. One of them was funky looking and 1 beam was shaped like the side of an hour glass.

I've seen a few in my life, can't put an exact number on it, not many.

This year we've seen a spike that looks to be at least 3.
Taking into consideration we have several other bucks both younger & older that are better head gear wise wandering around and the part of that lease that burned hasn't recovered, one less mouth is a good thing IMO.

If we see him again he's gonna get shot in da face.

I normally see only 1.5 yr old spikes and never shoot them b/c they do turn into better racks in following years and they are likely not doing any breeding that year or the next anyways so it does not hurt to let them go to see what they look like next year and then cull at 3.5 if needed. Never seen a true 4.5yr old spike. I would like to see some pics if any of you have some of one of these.

IMO: For those with really poor range conditions this year I would be very careful of the deer that I shoot this year. Like I said we never shoot young spikes on the place I hunt and if you normally do I would reconsider if your range conditions are really bad. You may have some 2.5 yr olds that normally would be 6-8pts that are spikes as a result.

Does anyone have a pic of a old spike they can share?

I'm not saying they aren't out there, I am saying I have not ever seen one, and haven't even seen a pic of one. But everyone say's to shoot all the spikes, don't let them spread them gene's.

IMO, you can not say they are speading bad genes until they mature over 3 1/2.

We let just about all our young spikes walk and for some reason they disappear, new non-spikes appear, just saying.

Humm I never thought about the age of spikes, other than one being a yearling (they get to live) any other spike with a full grown body and long spikes (say 6" ) we lay them down when we can.

I guess I tend to age spikes by their horns...

This year we are trying to do our on study at our place, taking detailed pics(since we can not net and tag)of all spikes and see if we can ID them next year and what they might become.

One of our hunters did take a 2 1/2 spike the other day, that I wish he had.

I've only ever seen young spikes. Not saying old ones don't exist but in general I would say spikes tend to be young. I guess another way to look at it is if you are trying to manage out spikes and shoot every one of them then why do you see multiple spikes every year?

I think that study that's always linked on here shows that nearly all or all spikes will eventually branch. They just tend to never catch up to bucks that are branched as yearlings.

***Not saying it's a fact or trying to start spike debate***

In all my years of hunting I do not recall ever seeing a spike that wasn't a 6 month or 1.5 yoa baby. Not saying that they aren't out there but I don't think they are as prevalent as many think.

BTW, you cannot age a spike (or any other buck for that matter) by the length (or size) of his anters.

I shot this buck a couple of years ago. He was 4.5 and though not a spike, he only had 1 or 2 branched points that were scoreable (> 1 inch), and they were right at an inch. A couple of main beams and a few little stickers. Nothing was broken.

I've seen 1 true spike that was older than 1.5 in 40 years of hunting Texas. I have however seen several bucks that had a spike on 1 side and 3,4,5 points on the other.

I like the way you say that "you can't age one by his antlers" (meaning me or anyone else)... how would you know WHAT I can do??? I may be the worlds leading expert and may be able to age them by smell, you don't know.

I know what you are saying BUT I can show you two 8 pt racks (euros) and one of them I will assure you, you'll say something like, "Uoooo that was a YOUNG deer... ya'll shouldn't have shot him!"

I can also show you a long horn spike, that if you have any sense at all you would know, by his antlers , that he's older than 6 or 8 months.

You may have something there Cameron, I am watching a big 4 right now that might have been a spike at one point. The 4 is at least 3 1/2, and I might have to take him out if I see him.

That was a study that was done that has very valid people that did the research. And to me, common sense says the same thing about spikes.

This is what we take into account as well. I've seen a couple 2.5 or better spikes in the past (biologist aged)

Spikes are such a problem they now have their own tag.