![]() ![]() For decades, some hunters have relied on chest-girth charts to estimate live weights of deer. Northern does weigh 105 to 120 pounds field dressed. If your deer herd doesn’t have good habitat and nutrition, survival is going to be difficult, as will antler growth. Yearling bucks, which range from small spikes to basket-racked 10-pointers, typically weigh 105 to 125 pounds. Habitat and nutrition fall into the same category for me. It would be a poor decision to harvest a spike during this time. Poor habitat and/or nutrition is going to lead to poor antler growth and more spikes. The high rainfall creates a domino effect of good habitat and nutrition, which will lead to buck growth and less population attrition. If you have an encouraging amount of rainfall, shooting spikes could be beneficial. You’re going to want the spikes to mature into older age classes to see what they become. Although his antlers were smaller than most 2 -year-old bucks his behavior was quite. If your land is experiencing a drought, it would be a poor decision to take a spike.ĭepending on the severity of the drought, the deer herd population could decrease naturally and throw your age structure and sex ratio into shambles. Interestingly, this buck was only a 3-inch spike as a yearling. Each tract of land has its own management needs and determining factors of when and why to harvest spike bucks. The truth of the matter is that there are times when the harvest of spikes is beneficial to a deer herd, and times when it is damaging. Rainfall ties every other factor together. So what is the answer The answer is yes, and no. To me, the most influential ingredient in spike development (or lack thereof) is rainfall. Learn more about Deer & Wildlife Management, Holistic Habitat Management and Restoration, Hunting Lease Management along with other wildlife services that help you maximize wildlife on your property by visiting: out when that whitetail fawn was conceived with this calculator Look him over thoroughly and give him a chance before deciding to take this young Spike with BIG potential. How can listeners get in touch with you to learn about your wildlife services?ĭeciding whether or not to take a Spike on your property can mean the difference of a nice 8 or 10 point buck in a few short years. Macy, thank you for answering these critical questions we hunters face every season.If you are a hunter coming from the eastern region of America, you may refer to what the West region’s hunters call a 5-point buck as a 10. A lot of confusion emerges when it comes to counting the points in Buck’s antlers. But if you see a Spike on a 5.5 or 6.5 year old body, more than likely he may always be a Spike? It is roughly estimated that a 4-point buck could be between 1 to 3 years old. So if you see a Spike on a 1.5 year old body, you know he has several years to improve.What would it take for this 1.5 year old Spike to grow into a big 8 or 10? ![]() Many hunters cannot fathom a skinny 1.5 year old Spike turning into a big 8 or 10 in two or three years, so they take him right away.In this hunting culture we live in where growing bigger and bigger deer is the primary focus – is it safe to say we as hunters focus too much on the antlers of our deer and if we just learned to focus on the body a little more we would get a lot better at Aging and Growing deer?.What causes a Spike to be a Spike? Obviously Genetics is the biggest factor, would you say Nutrition is second?. ![]() ![]() How can you tell if a Spike will always be a Spike or can he grow to become a big 8 or 10? Maybe it’s time we stop this age discrimination. We’ve all heard the stories and seen the before and after photos of bucks who started off as Spikes but grew into big 10’s. Articles / Content / D+DH In-Depth Are Spikes Shooters Read This Before Answering - Friday JJim Heffelfinger The North American spike buck is an amazing creature, yet it has been much-maligned and under-appreciated in recent years. While we are patiently waiting on the buck we let walk last year, guess who walks out first – Mr. Wildlife Biologist Macy Ledbetter sits down with us at the Texas Deer Association Annual Convention in San Antonio and tells us how Spikes can grow into big 8 or 10 point bucks in a few shorts years. ![]()
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