So you agree but then you shoot spikes? Is that for removal of mouths? What if the genetics of the big-bodied spike are such that he feeds his body before his antlers? Once he reaches maturity and no longer grows his body, he may have the biggest rack on your place. Does a spike with 8-10" long beams with a curve become a target over a really small 4pt (with less total bone) just because he didn't have a fork?

We're trying to split some mighty fine hairs, gents.

I can honestly say that over the thousands of deer I’ve seen, I’ve only seen one spike that was older than a yearling.

I’ve shot a few spikes that dressed 130+ pounds. I’m not a shoot them all kinda person but I’m not exactly in the they grow up to be normal camp either.

The AR argument has been going on for years, and TPWD and I guess the public also likes AR's or they would have been changed a long time ago.
Maybe I am in a minority, but I've seen them work, and my opinion is if they don't work, why have they not been changed in all these years?
As mentioned many times it's not and never was about growing trophy deer, but to give those young bucks a chance to grow and breed to increase the population. Larger bucks is just the by product of allowing a young buck to reach maturity.
As for the argument of the narrow rack deer breeding and producing narrow racked deer, the answer is put in for MLD status so problem solved.
Or hunt in a county like maybe Bandera where there are no AR's.

I still do not believe that it is growing more narrow racked bucks. Even if the narrow gene deer are living longer, the restrictions keep bucks with genetics for wider racks alive on average 1-2 years longer than they would be to do more breeding. Plus half of it is still up to the doe.