I watched this old boy for 30 minutes this morning, trying to decide if he is legal to tag as a spike. We have never seen him on the lease before. What is your opinion?

That's what all have said; early into ARs, I was told some wardens were citating for obviously main beam broken bucks but that was more than 10+ years ago, when possibly subjective interpretation was still in play by LEO.

Regardless how he got it, broken or just a natural spike as long as it’s one it doesn’t matter

Watched hi from 143 yards, 10 x binos, it don’t look broke to me. I think he grew it that way. He was trying to convince a few does in the feeder pen, that one of them was ready for him.

Yes, he looks to be an unbranched freak boy to me and like was said, it really doesn't matter if broken either. Again, I was going back like 15 years ago when ARs first started. Had a Game Warden tell me specifically then that broken mainbeam bucks were not considered unbranched "in his book" and he was writing folks up for it. Think it was the first year of ARs in Young County. That interpretative thing died off that year for sure, guess folks were complaining about it or something.

If that right side doesn’t have any branch and is slick he is legal

Likely legal but you may want to keep in mind its probably caused by some type injury at some point in his life and there is a chance he will grow back in the future to be similar to his other very nice side.

concur but that old brute aint getting any younger. Looks post prime

legal as a spike and that picture stands for any doubt if you where questioned on main beam break which legally dosent matter anyway

Plus that deer is as old as dirt

Most wardens I’ve talked with about it just see if it’s a recent break. If it looks like someone took a sledgehammer to it that day, then there will probably be more questions. I would just save the picture in case anything came up about it.

Thats sausage on a stick in my book! This county here thats an unbranched antler! legal buck here.
Curious of his age, rut was the only time you saw this old dude?

I see a spike antler. This meets criteria. I don't recall the rules differentiating how the spike antler was formed.

Had an old brute walk by at less than 30 yards that had a good heavy 4 points typical on one side and a post over a foot tall with 7 or 8 stickers on it that were over an inch, the next year I saw him and about the same but fewer stickers on the post and all the rack was smaller. 2 years later there was a real regular very old boy with a 4 on the correct side to be him and about an 8 inch crooked spike on the post side, Never got a chance to get the old boy but he had all the signs of old buck. Never saw him again after that.

If there is no point and inch or longer on that spike side I would kill him as the unbranched buck, like others have said he is mature and mostlikely an injury caused that abnormal side.