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TPWD established that rule because spikes supposedly won't grow as big of antlers as deer that have forked horns when they are 1.5

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If I want horns ill go to a high fence place and shoot a deer for my wall I can be proud of.

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Ever since We started managing the habitat and not the wildlife, we have more deer, bigger deer, and very few spikes....

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sounds like your on the the right track

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Back on topic, I only shoot spikes if they are over 1.5 years old. The one I shot this year was at least 2.5. I had seen him on cam and was hunting for him.

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Back on topic, I only shoot spikes if they are over 1.5 years old. The one I shot this year was at least 2.5. I had seen him on cam and was hunting for him.

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Just wonder how you knew he was "atleast 2.5"? Did you pull the jaw?

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back to the subject.... Its really dumb to shoot spikes if your trying to manage and grow big bucks I work on a high fenced ranch where the guy tagged 12 spikes 2 years ago all were 1.5 year old and this year 8 of the bucks are 10 points and 3 are 8 points and 1 is a 6 point. He has a 1000acre pen so he knows his deer and has kept track of them ever since.

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Count em, that's 5 thumbs up!

IMO there are way to many variables to simply shoot a 1.5 year old buck such as when was he born, was he or his mama sick when he was nursing, did his mama have a good milk supply or was she a 9 month old doe when she was bred, etc. etc. etc.!

IMO, why not let him get to 2.5 and then if he's not showing what you want, grind him into sausage!

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My point was if you pulled the jaw you would know if it was 2.5 or not and not atleast 2.5.

I think the question people have to ask themselves when trying to create a management programs is:
Am I trying to manage for numbers of deer or am I managing for quality bucks.

Unfortunetly most of us don't have the money required or habitat in Texas to acheive both. Not saying that this can't occur, just saying that the majority of us don't have that luxury.

If we are managing for numbers and don't have the means supply the deer with enough quality food (protein, range management) then you can expect to see some small antlered deer or spikes in your lower age class deer.

If you are managing for quality of bucks then you have to put a lot of time in throughout the year to determine a harvest estimate (has to be better than a guess) and then follow through with eliminating excess mouths.

The biggest problem with groups or landowners that are trying to manage a property is there is no plan. We know what we would like to acheive but don't know how to get there. This in my opinion is caused because of lack of education or just poor planning.

Thats just my .02's

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Back on topic, I only shoot spikes if they are over 1.5 years old. The one I shot this year was at least 2.5. I had seen him on cam and was hunting for him.

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Just wonder how you knew he was "atleast 2.5"? Did you pull the jaw?

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Here is the spike in question with another deer about his age. He is the one under the feeder, not the 1.5 year old at the edge.



Here he is with a 1.5 year old.





Now are you telling me you would let him walk to breed?

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No you can not get exact age on the lower jaw no matter what you believe. Their diet can have more of an effect on their teeth than what you believe. Best you can hope for is a general age. BTW I have ever lower jaw bone, weight, and pics of every deer killed on my place.

Lets put it this way, I would rather shoot a older ugly spike than a perfect 10 that was 2.5. Call it what ever you like, management or what ever. I add plenty of food for the deer from food plots, corn, to protein. There is always something for them to eat. So to many mouths is not a problem. I am on my property all the time (I live their) I also have lots of game cams up so I have a pretty good idea of the amount of deer on my place. The spike I shot this year I had watched for about 3 months, and new he needed to go. I had a great looking 8, but he had way more potential. All you can do is do what you think is right for your particular place. Make the best decisions you can and live with the effects. If I have to go a year without killing a deer that is fine, my main goal is not the largest rack (sure it would be nice) but I am just as content shooting trash bucks and does

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No you can not get exact age on the lower jaw no matter what you believe. Their diet can have more of an effect on their teeth than what you believe. Best you can hope for is a general age. BTW I have ever lower jaw bone, weight, and pics of every deer killed on my place.

Lets put it this way, I would rather shoot a older ugly spike than a perfect 10 that was 2.5. Call it what ever you like, management or what ever. I add plenty of food for the deer from food plots, corn, to protein. There is always something for them to eat. So to many mouths is not a problem. I am on my property all the time (I live their) I also have lots of game cams up so I have a pretty good idea of the amount of deer on my place. The spike I shot this year I had watched for about 3 months, and new he needed to go. I had a great looking 8, but he had way more potential. All you can do is do what you think is right for your particular place. Make the best decisions you can and live with the effects. If I have to go a year without killing a deer that is fine, my main goal is not the largest rack (sure it would be nice) but I am just as content shooting trash bucks and does

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If your main goal is not the largest rack buck then you are well on your way. Having a 2.5 year old spike more than likely you are over your carrying capacity. Also decisions are better made when you have facts from studies and such instead of "doing what you think is right" and making the "best decisions you can". I do agree with letting a 2.5 year old 10 walk or any buck of that age. The main problem is that we as hunters follow the same things we heard 20 years ago. There are more and better ways to manage our herds than those of even 5 years ago.

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So you are telling me you would have let that spike walk? And you are telling me that I am on my way to not having big racks. Just so you know a 160 class was killed about 15 yards from my property line. And this is what I am not killing. I am not over carrying capacity, but since you know my land better than me I will leave it at that.





But it is obvious you know more than me. I am doing everything wrong. BTW a dry year like we had this year is not great for deer. This is the first year I have seen any spikes.

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How many deer do you have over the 3.5 year range? Also it doesn't matter that a 160" was killed 15 yards from your property line. If you have age and good diet on your property/area then you will not have a 2.5 year old spike. Glad to see you passed up the deer in the picture. The main point is, do you know what your goals for your property are? Do you know how you will get there?

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So you are saying ALL deer fed good will be more than spikes at 2.5 years old? Or did I miss something? What about on a dry year? Please tell me you don't really believe that? Are you saying that bad genetics can't make that happen?

My place is not very big, I am bordered by a club that only shoots deer over 4.5 years old. I have the only pond on my place also. Not sure how many over 3.5, because those tend to avoid feeders. I just bought a good cam and will be setting it up on trails to catch the older ones. My plan is to shoot trash deer, and give them the most I can with my environment. Also to shoot any deer that are mature. There is no way my place is even close to carrying capacity. This was a very dry year, and there were only 2 spikes I seen. The rest were all 6, or 8's. Here is another pic of one's I will not shoot yet.

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How many deer do you have over the 3.5 year range? Also it doesn't matter that a 160" was killed 15 yards from your property line. If you have age and good diet on your property/area then you will not have a 2.5 year old spike. Glad to see you passed up the deer in the picture. The main point is, do you know what your goals for your property are? Do you know how you will get there?

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Heck, TPWD put in a special "Spike Tag"

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My point was if you pulled the jaw you would know if it was 2.5 or not and not atleast 2.5.

I think the question people have to ask themselves when trying to create a management programs is:
Am I trying to manage for numbers of deer or am I managing for quality bucks.

Unfortunetly most of us don't have the money required or habitat in Texas to acheive both. Not saying that this can't occur, just saying that the majority of us don't have that luxury.

If we are managing for numbers and don't have the means supply the deer with enough quality food (protein, range management) then you can expect to see some small antlered deer or spikes in your lower age class deer.

If you are managing for quality of bucks then you have to put a lot of time in throughout the year to determine a harvest estimate (has to be better than a guess) and then follow through with eliminating excess mouths.

The biggest problem with groups or landowners that are trying to manage a property is there is no plan. We know what we would like to acheive but don't know how to get there. This in my opinion is caused because of lack of education or just poor planning.

Thats just my .02's

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No you can not get exact age on the lower jaw no matter what you believe. Their diet can have more of an effect on their teeth than what you believe. Best you can hope for is a general age. BTW I have ever lower jaw bone, weight, and pics of every deer killed on my place.

Lets put it this way, I would rather shoot a older ugly spike than a perfect 10 that was 2.5. Call it what ever you like, management or what ever. I add plenty of food for the deer from food plots, corn, to protein. There is always something for them to eat. So to many mouths is not a problem. I am on my property all the time (I live their) I also have lots of game cams up so I have a pretty good idea of the amount of deer on my place. The spike I shot this year I had watched for about 3 months, and new he needed to go. I had a great looking 8, but he had way more potential. All you can do is do what you think is right for your particular place. Make the best decisions you can and live with the effects. If I have to go a year without killing a deer that is fine, my main goal is not the largest rack (sure it would be nice) but I am just as content shooting trash bucks and does.

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