Gather ’round folks, and let me regale you with a tale of old-time hunters in Georgia who would proclaim with a straight face, “Once a spike, always a spike!” But you know what? They didn’t actually believe it themselves. Oh, those cheeky hunters! You see, back in those days, deer were as rare as a well-behaved teenager, and doe tags were basically nonexistent. Hunters had to find a buck to get their hands on some venison.
Three factors cause spikes in yearling whitetails. Give the deer some time to grow, and he will develop into a normal branch-antlered buck.
Spike bucks were as common as cat videos on the internet, but nobody knew why. Well, fasten your seatbelts, because now we do!
There are primarily three reasons why white-tailed deer grow spikes:
- THE AGE FACTOR Think of spikes as the deer version of teenage acne. Age, or the lack thereof, is the main reason why a whitetail buck will grow spikes as its first set of antlers. Most spikes are just late-born fawns from the previous season entering their first growing season. By the time hunting season rolls around, they’re like 18-month-old deer toddlers sporting their first set of antlers.
Late-borns need to focus their energy on growing their bodies. Growing antlers is like an afterthought, much like a teenager’s concern for tidying their room.
According to a scientific study by Keith McCaffery, a Wisconsin DNR deer researcher and manager for more than 30 years, very few animals older than yearlings have spikes. He found that in forested northern Wisconsin, 29 of 1,588 deer aged 2-1/2 years old (1.8%) were spikes. In farmland where deer enjoy better nutrition, only 12 of 1,826 2 1/2-year-old deer (.6%) were spikes. (Fun fact: There was a single 3-1/2-year-old recorded to have spikes.) Some of these older Wisconsin deer with unbranched antlers on each side might actually have had broken antlers rather than natural spikes. (Heffelfinger, DDH)
- THE NUTRITION FACTOR Nutrition is a major player in the Spike Game. It goes hand-in-hand with age – a late-born fawn without access to a deer buffet of high-value nutrition is basically doomed to a spiky existence. Without quality nutrition, especially during the winter months, antler growth for those late-borns is hindered, resulting in a higher probability of spike antlers. Hence give that young fellow some AntlerXtreme to ensue he has that needed nutrition!
Remember, though, that nutrition isn’t just about our well-meaning attempts to provide AntlerXtreem feed through protein and food plots. Overwinter habitat is critical, which is why so many areas have a higher percentage of spike bucks in the herd as yearlings.
But fear not! They catch up eventually. More on that later.
- THE GENETICS FACTOR Genetics comes in at a distant third on this list. Now, some biologists in Texas might argue otherwise, and there is evidence that genetics can play a role in spike development in Southern deer. But it doesn’t overshadow the first two factors. In a nutshell, recent research has shown that trying to manage against spikes by going on “green light” shooting missions is about as effective as trying to stop a speeding train with a feather. I’ve been to several places where they declare war on spike bucks, attempting to “weed them out” of the gene pool. But guess what? You just can’t do it. Remember, mama deer is responsible for 60% or more of that little buck’s DNA. Culling him before his time is like falling for the very premise of this blog post: “Once a spike, always a spike.” So, what’s the moral of this deer tale? If you want to shoot a spike to fill your tag and bring home some delicious venison, go for it, be happy, and wear a smile. But if you’re doing it for any other reason, well, you’re just pulling the wool over your own eyes! Or, in this case, the deer hide.
