Crooked horns and spikes...

[Ballard County Bounty]

Will these crooked horn 2,3,4,5 pointers and spikes every make a good deer? We have lots of food plots on our ranch...Biologic Chickory/clover plus mix and Whitetail Institutes 30-06 and we still have a lot of scrub bucks. We were told it was bad genetics and to go ahead and shoot them. I rattled several bucks in this past week and most of them were all spikes and crooked horns. I was guiding on our a few members of NSSP on our Ranch and I let them shoot a couple of them. What do you all think??

[barney]

Will these crooked horn 2,3,4,5 pointers and spikes every make a good deer? We have lots of food plots on our ranch...Biologic Chickory/clover plus mix and Whitetail Institutes 30-06 and we still have a lot of scrub bucks. We were told it was bad genetics and to go ahead and shoot them. I rattled several bucks in this past week and most of them were all spikes and crooked horns. I was guiding on our a few members of NSSP on our Ranch and I let them shoot a couple of them. What do you all think??
I dont callem scrubs, I callem 1 and 2 year olds! I have personaly saw a scrub grow into a book deer! just givem time!:)

[massive horns]

the answer to your question is yes. let them grow and get old...

[arshooter]

you let them shoot young deer...

[bowhunter269]

I agree......let them grow. Until you know for sure they are at least 3 1/2 years old you don't know their potential. Don't shoot them!

[woodsnwater]

Exactly. That's one of the most common mistakes when trying to manage for quality bucks. Too many people will tell you to take out these "scrubs", when in fact, the vast majority of them are just yearlings that haven't had a chance to mature (this includes most spikes, contrary to popular belief).

Consistently pass them up and you'll see reap the benefits within the next couple of years.

[slickhead slayer]

your shooting your young bucks. Research has shown that those spikes and basket racked deer will turn into big deer.

[Xi Bowhunter]

Do people really think that spikes and basket racks will NEVER turn into big deer?:confused:

[woodsnwater]

Do people really think that spikes and basket racks will NEVER turn into big deer?:confused:

You would be astonished at the results of a general, unbiased poll on that on that question. It's the old adage, "Once a spike, always a spike." It's tough to break people out of that mindset, but I will say that since I joined this forum 3 years ago, the attitude on that particular topic has changed unbelievably. Just goes to show that we all learn from each other here.

[westkybanded]

I will agree with the gentleman from Murray on this... Except there are deer that do have genetically inferior antler development. Example: Last year, I harvested a 3.5 yr old buck with four points on one side, and a 16" spike on the other. This year, we've seen no less than a half dozen IDENTICAL deer, ranging in age from yearlings to 3.5. The surrounding landowners are also reporting seeing the same kind of deer on their place.

woodsnwater knows where I'm speaking of (where your dad shot his booner) and the area has good genetics, but for some reason there is a rogue group of retards running around there.

[Fat Tony]

I got a heck of a nice 10 on my wall that looked like a unicorn his first year. Spikes turn into bigguns too if you let them walk.

[lkj118]

not scrubs....young deer. give them some time and they'll turn into what you're looking for.