From Spike....to Death

[Snapshot]

Some say a spike buck will always be a spike buck. This proves them wrong!

By Charles J. Alsheimer

The process of getting a whitetail from the button buck stage to the Boone and Crockett category is a mystical journey that includes a complex assortment of variables. It takes four basic ingredients to produce a buck with a 170-inch rack: genetics, habitat, herd management and age.

Too often hunters feel they can tell a buck’s potential by the kind of antlers it grows as a yearling. I’ve been fortunate to have hunted whitetails from New York to Texas to Saskatchewan, with many stops along the way. I’ve also had the unique opportunity of raising whitetails and studying their behavior for a quarter century. My journey as a hunter, photographer and researcher has taught me a few things about the whitetail. And one is that the size of a yearling’s antlers is seldom a predictor of what its antlers it will be when it fully matures.

When I was a young man in the 1960s, many researchers felt that yearling spike bucks were genetically inferior, at least from an antler standpoint. Time has a way of changing people’s minds and we now know that it’s extremely difficult to tell a buck’s antler potential by the kind of antlers it grew as a yearling. The photos that accompany this essay help to illustrate and refute the old claim of “once a spike always a spike.”

1) 1 1/2 Years Old

I had the privilege of photographing this buck his entire life. He was born on a wilderness estate in the heart of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. The family owned 3,000 acres and allowed no hunting on the property. The family also fed supplemental feed to deer living in the area. This buck was one of about 30 to 40 deer that stayed on the property. Herd numbers never got out of control due to severe winters and a healthy black bear and coyote population.

As a yearling, this buck grew 3-inch spikes – not a very impressive start compared to what he would turn into at 4 1/2 years of age.

2) 2 1/2 Years Old

When the buck reached 2 1/2 years of age, his body was typical for a buck of that age. However, his 85-inch, 8-point antlers were spindly and more typical of what a yearling’s antlers might look like in the rich farm-belt of the Midwest.

3) 3 1/2 Years Old

When a whitetail reaches 3 1/2 years of age, its skeletal frame is done growing. From this point on the nutrients that previously went to bone growth can be transferred to antler growth. At 3 1/2 this buck was again an 8-pointer, but now he is beginning to show antler potential. His antlers have a gross score of 122-inches (B&C). His estimated live weight is approximately 200 pounds.

The first three years of this buck’s life were typical of bucks living in an area having fully mature bucks in the population. Though he made many scrapes and rubs when he was 2 1/2 and 3 1/2, he exhibited all the common behaviors one would expect of a subordinate buck.

4) 4 1/2 Years Old

As you can see his antler growth exploded in one year, quite typical of what takes place between age 3 and 4. Now he is a 164-inch, 11-pointer with an estimated body weight of about 240 pounds.

5) 5 1/2 Years Old

His antlers are a little different from the previous year. He is a basic 9-pointer, but in spite of having two fewer points, his antlers are slightly larger than the previous year – 165 inches. His estimated body weight is 250 pounds.

6) 6 1/2 Years Old

It took him six years but he finally made it to the magical Boone & Crockett class of 170 inches for typical bucks. Though only a 4×5, he measures 169 inches, the biggest he will ever grow. His estimated live weight is about 260 pounds.

7) 7 1/2 Years Old

Still in his prime, his antlers are beginning to decline. He is still a 4×5 and his antlers are 166 inches. His estimated live weight is still in the 250 to 260 pound range.

8) 8 1/2 Years Old

He is again a 4×5, but now he is beginning to show his age. His antlers have 160 inches of bone and his estimated live weight is slightly below 250 pounds.

9) 9 1/2 Years Old

For the first time since he was 4 1/2, the buck is more than a 4×5. He is now a clean 5×5 with 160-inch antlers. Age is beginning to take its toll on this majestic buck. His fur is showing some of the battle scars from years of fighting and his estimated body weight barely makes 225 pounds.

10) 10 1/2 Years Old

Now a basic 4×4, his antlers score 156 inches, which is very impressive for an 8-pointer. His estimated body weight appears to be about the same as the previous year.

11) 11 1/2 Years Old

In human terms, the buck is now an old man. As the photo illustrates, the aging process has taken a toll on both body and antlers. His antlers are now 143 inches and his estimated live weight is barely 200 pounds.

12) 12 1/2 Years Old

The end is near for this monarch. I took this photo two weeks before he died, just before the first snow fall in November. His body weight at death was 130 pounds and his antlers were 105 inches.

13) The Dominate Buck

Once he reached 4 1/2, his large antlers, body size and aggressive attitude served notice to every buck in his core area. Even though some bucks would challenge him, he was clearly the dominant buck in his core area from 4 1/2 to 8 1/2 years of age.

14) Scraping Machine

Since he was the dominant buck, throughout the autumn months when he was 4 1/2 to 8 1/2, he was a scraping and rubbing machine.

15) Patterns Change with Age

When this buck was 9 1/2, he took a terrible beating from a younger, mature buck and he was never the same again. From this point on he shied away from other mature bucks and became very reclusive.

16) Once a Spike, Not Always a Spike!

“Once a spike, always a spike.” Hardly. As this photo essay shows, you never know what a whitetail buck’s antler potential will be until it reaches full maturity, which usually doesn’t occur until a buck is 6 to 7 years old.

[Big Browns]

Do you have any sheds from this Buck? How were you able to score him? How do you know he died? Great info! Thanks!

 

Adam

[firstcoueswas80]

Adam, that was a quoted story from Charles Alsheimer....

[Snapshot]

Do you have any sheds from this Buck? How were you able to score him? How do you know he died? Great info! Thanks!

 

Adam

The author studied this buck on private property through it's life cycle of 12.5 years. i imagine the antler scores are just educated guess's, or scored from sheds picked up by the author. just like we would make in the field.

 

I had the privilege of photographing this buck his entire life. He was born on a wilderness estate in the heart of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. The family owned 3,000 acres and allowed no hunting on the property. The family also fed supplemental feed to deer living in the area. This buck was one of about 30 to 40 deer that stayed on the property. Herd numbers never got out of control due to severe winters and a healthy black bear and coyote population.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

That is way cool... very neat photo essay.

[6ANut]

Cool, story thanks for sharing.

[1uglydude]

Cool concept. I assume he must have had the sheds or there wouldn't be any way to get his scores so exact? Short of tagging the deer, I wonder how he can be sure that the spike was the same deer the next year? 3,000 acres is a big piece of property. He doesn't say that it's high fenced, and his estimate of 30-40 deer on the property seems ridiculously low.

[Snapshot]

I don't know the particulars of this buck study. It's just a story that that popped up on my facebook feed that I thought was interesting.

[Big Browns]

Adam, that was a quoted story from Charles Alsheimer....

 

Thanks Casey!

[Jcubed]

Interesting indeed...

[GreyGhost85]

one of the cooler posts i've read on this site in a long time. thanks you for sharing

[GhostTracker180]

My dad worked for Texas A&M university in research and new a few of the deer biologist. They told him the same. Most bucks in the wild only make it to about 6 to 7 yrs of age due to hunting, natural predators and not as good of quality of food and of course no veterinarians. And, they said the same the biggest improvement in a set of horns is from year 3 to 4. I don't know the reason. They also stressed deer and found on hard years racks can reduce in size. I guess food to survival then extra to horns, fat etc.

[OpticNerd]

Very cool indeed! I never knew about the whitetails skeletal frame being done growing by the age of 3.5 years thus having a significant jump in antler growth the following year. I wonder if this is the same for coues? If so that would be some would be good to good info to know.

[shanehamblin]

Very cool write up. Awesome what happens with age good feed an little pressure. Love seeing year to year pictures. Kind of sucks seeing him lay there ribs showing at 12 1/2 years. Pretty amazing seeing deer die of old age.

[AZbowhntr]

Great post. I kind of felt sad for the guy there at the end. I think I would rather take a bullet and go out in style.