Anyone have any thoughts on Spike Bucks, specifically 11/2 year olds . Leave them go another year or take them now. I've seen alot of arguments for and against. Here in the county I hunt we get 2 weeks after the general season cloeses to take does or spikes. BTW I'm in the Texas Hill Country Rocksprings to be exact.
 
Mark

Hey Mark, I am in Mason County, TX   not to far from you........this can stir controversy but I have always followed the rule of culling them on wet years and letting them go on dry years....sooo this year let them go....however if you are looking for meat referring to the doe and spike season you are talking about I bet it will be okay to take one....

Mark, your question is a good one and theres different opinions of it.  My advise is this: Learn how to age deer on the hoof as a spike could be a young buck that was a early spring birth or it could be an older deer with bad genes. If I see a buck that looks 1 1/2 or less, I'll let it go. If I see it the next season and it's still a spike, I'll take him. Buck dominance isn't based on antler size so you can have a mature spike that will chase away bucks with better genetics and breed. And you don't want him doing that and having bucks with poor genes around. One year we took a buck with 9" spikes, dressed at around 170 and was probably 2 1/2 years old. Not a buck you want passing those genes on.

I agree with above. Spikes that run short I pass, but the 6-10" spike, what i've been told will always be a spike.

I agree totally with what M1Grand said!  You've got to be able to age them in the field.  If they are more that 1 1/2....take them out.
 
firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

My first deer was a blacktail spike that weighed a little under 140lbs and had 7 inch spikes.  Although that seems light which would suggest a young deer blacktails dont get as big with a mature buck averaging anywhere from 150-200 pounds.  I would say that this buck was around two years old maybe a bit more but he was pretty good sized.

The famous whitetail 30-30 was a small spike when he was 1 1/2 and not much better at 2 1/2. But as he aged he developed into an incredible non-typical. This was a high fence deer though and fed well. I've shot some very old spikes and I've also shot some very large bodied 1 1/2 year old spikes (140 pounds dressed). It's hard to tell sometimes. If you are on public ground it usually doesn't matter. If you are on managed land leave them alone if the buck to doe ratio is ok or low. God bless and good hunting.

Depends on your area and the availability of good food. Around here (PA) we are now forced to let them go, unless your a jr or military hunter, and it does make a difference. We used to shoot 75-90% of our yearling buck and therefore ended up the following year with the same young age class. A bucks antler growing potential is not revealed so early in life unless it had good nutrition from the start. Normally it's second set of antlers will start to show it.
  Do a search on Kerr wildlife management area, or go here: //www.tpwd.state.texas.us/conserve/publications/  and read some of their studies (if you haven't already).

I have a self imposed 5 point or better rule, which in my area of Mass and N.Y. is difficult to beat but there are plenty of doe permit's to fill my freezer.....