Spike only General

hogg_65 · Oct 28, 2024

A mule deer buck with only spike antlers is the inferior buck genetic in the deer herd. This was told to me from a old trapper/ranger that use to work in Southern Utah mountains.
How many spike buck do you guys see in the field versus 2 point bucks?
I rarely see spikes as often as I see 2 points, unless it's on the winter ranges.
Should the division have hunters only target spike bucks for this APR experiment?
Would spike buck only hunting on some general units provide that potential to have more older bucks?

Outdoordan · Oct 28, 2024

Typically spikes are just fawns that were born late the year before. Spikes can actually grow just as big as other bucks if given some age.

The truth behind spikes

hogg_65 · Oct 28, 2024

Outdoordan said:
Typically spikes are just fawns that were born late the year before. Spikes can actually grow just as big as other bucks if given some age.

The truth behind spikes

Do you typically see more spikes or 2 points?

Outdoordan · Oct 28, 2024

A forkhorn is probably more common, but I've seen plenty of spikes, spike x 2, and 2x2.

hogg_65 · Oct 28, 2024

Outdoordan said:
A forkhorn is probably more common, but I've seen plenty of spikes, spike x 2, and 2x2.

Would only harvesting spikes not 1x2 or 1x? Put more bucks on the landscape in your opinion and experience?
Remember the topic is the APR changes. Would only taking spike bucks be a good/better option.

Outdoordan · Oct 28, 2024

Well, the reality is that there would be plenty of people that walked up on their "spike" and found out it was a 1x2 and leave it. As for whether this would put more bucks on the landscape, killing any buck takes a buck away, whether that be spike or a 4x4. These "number of points on antler" restrictions are hard to manage and I just don't see that there would be a lot of participation.

hogg_65 · Oct 28, 2024

I don't want the APR implemented here in Utah. It looks like that is what the division is wanting to experiment with. I was wanting to get a conversation going about spike buck hunting.
Would only targeting spikes be better than what the division is proposing? Unfortunately there will be guys that kill bucks that wouldn't be legal to the APR, and that is disappointing.

BrowningRage · Oct 28, 2024

I can't see how killing spikes would help. They probably don't take winter feed from mature bucks. They probably don't have higher survival rates than mature bucks who spend more energy rutting. They're just young little bucks.

As far as the 2 points or spikes question... I've definitely seen more 2 points. But, I've often seen two young bucks together, presumably twins, one with 2 points, the other with spikes. So, who knows?

mtnrunner260 · Oct 28, 2024

If a unit has 100 buck tags and you change it to
80 any buck and 20 spike only it should reduce overall success and result in a couple more bucks on the landscape.

If a unit has 100 buck tags and you change it to
100 any buck tags and 20 spike o lyrics tags you'll have a few less on landscape.

Unless it is converting 30% of existing tags into spike only it only changes things by a few bucks.

I wonder how much demand there would be for spike only tags and how many spike only tags holders will pass when that 40 incher walks by.

hogg_65 · Oct 28, 2024

I have also seen more 2 points than spikes over the years.

Gorilla · Tuesday at 8:31 PM

Spike only buck deer hunts....I will give an A for out-of-the-box thinking but F for reality. A spike buck deer isn't much bigger than large dog with maybe 30 lbs of boned out meat. Nobody in my hunting circle would even consider hunting/killing a spike buck deer. The thought of a spike only deer hunt sounds total boring.

"Check out this spike buck deer I shot!..." Said nobody ever.

A spike bull elk will at least put a fair amount of meat in the freezer.

elkassassin · Tuesday at 8:47 PM

I Seen Quite A Few SPIKES/MOTL Bucks This Year!

When The DRATville Deer Herd Had Good Genetics Spikes Were Rare!

Most Of Them Were 2 Points Their First Year!

But How Long Ago Was That?

Muleman · Tuesday at 8:49 PM

No spikes in mule deer are not inferior genetics. Spike are common in mule deer were the are not as common in white tails. Long story but I worked a game park were the culled spike mule deer. One got shot in leg and reheated and was easily identified the rest of his life. He grew to be a 170 class Buck which was real good for this area. Small sample size.

The real thought process to hunting spikes is they have a high mortality rate regardless. So killing some doesn’t hurt your overall buck population since a high # will die regardless of hunting. I personally am not a fan since a lot of does get shot when spikes are legal and I think you need a lot of bucks on the landscape so a few will make it to trophy size/maturity.

elkassassin · Tuesday at 8:49 PM

mtnrunner260 said:
If a unit has 100 buck tags and you change it to
80 any buck and 20 spike only it should reduce overall success and result in a couple more bucks on the landscape.

If a unit has 100 buck tags and you change it to
100 any buck tags and 20 spike o lyrics tags you'll have a few less on landscape.

Unless it is converting 30% of existing tags into spike only it only changes things by a few bucks.

I wonder how much demand there would be for spike only tags and how many spike only tags holders will pass when that 40 incher walks by.