I was browsing around some Deer and Deer Hunting articles, highly recommend this to anyone as D&DH have some great writers and segments that any hunter can learn from, but one comment on a story caught my eye. It’s something we’ve all thought at some point and has caused us to consider shooting that little spike or fork that walks by your stand every day it seems. “Is a bunch of spike or fork antlered bucks a sign of bad genetics and should be harvested to encourage better genetics in my deer population?”
(courtesy of Googleimages)
That my friends, is a highly loaded question, and one which deer biologists and hunters have argued over and will continue to argue over for years to come. I can simply go off of information I’ve witnessed on my hunting properties and from the opinions of people I respect in the whitetail world. It cannot be simply answered with one blanket type answer ruling out genetics completely or saying it is genetics completely…however as you see from my response I truly believe it’s more about nutrients than genetics.
Three years back I can still remember the first few weeks of bow season like they were yesterday. I had bucks on stand every single time I went out and hunted. One day I had 5 different bucks around me throughout the 4 hour morning hunt, and 3 more in the evening. The problem though was a 10 inch wide 4-pointer was the biggest one in the bunch. I had never seen this many small bucks in my hunting career and attributed it to terrible genetics…however once I really started paying attention to when bucks were born this theory started to waiver some.
It’s a proven fact that the size of a bucks rack is part genetics, however a buck’s body is only going to use the nutrients consumed to grow it’s rack if it’s body doesn’t need them all first. A common example of this is a doe that is bred in what is considered the secondary rut, sometimes as late as December or first week of January in some states. This is going to place this doe’s offspring a good 3 to 5 weeks behind the normal birthing period if her gestation period is normal. Think about how much body growth can occur for a fawn in a month’s time span…that little buck fawn born late is going to have to “catch up”. In order to “catch up” that fawn’s body is going to utilize every single ounce of nutrients and minerals he takes in building up its body before it even thinks about building up their antlers; which common sense tells you its rack really isn’t going to show its full potential in that first year. It very well could be the son of that Boon & Crockett buck from the marsh down the road, but that first year it’s busy trying to build up its body and not its rack.
One way to combat this is by establishing good solid mineral licks. Mineral licks are the quickest and easiest way to get the important nutrients and minerals a deer needs in order to build good solid bone structure and great sets of antlers. Every single deer if not receiving all the nutrients they need will utilize mineral licks, thus helping deer reach their full potential in body growth, antler growth and overall health. We’ve seen great results just on our little hunting properties since we’ve established 2 main and 2 secondary mineral licks on our primary hunting properties. This year we’ve captured many pictures of young bucks sporting much healthier bodies and more full racks. We’ve still got some spikes and 4-pointers but they appear thicker in mass and taller in height, a good sign going into their second year when more nutrients will go towards antler growth than body growth. *A quick tidbit on mineral licks. You need to know what the laws are in your state about the use of minerals. Some states consider it bait and it cannot be hunted over or even in some cases put out at all. We've actually had to eradicate a couple licks because we felt they were too close to our stands and didn't want to run the risk of getting in trouble. One thing to consider is if you have a neighboring property owner that may let you put a mineral lick out, but not necessarily hunt. Again make sure this would even be legal before doing so.
So if you’re seeing an amazing amount of tiny button-bucks or spikes, think about establishing some mineral licks on your property. You want to get these going in early spring, as it’s over the summer they are needed the most; although they will continue to see some activity throughout the entire year. We’ve had great success with ground up trophy rock, and it could be a good place to start in your search for a mineral compound the deer like in your area. It’s important though to pay attention to the ingredients and possibly offer at least one mineral lick that differs in minerals offered as it may attract deer that the other may not.
Remember that every small buck grows up, and by seeing a bunch of young deer could simply be the sign that in 3 years you could have a solid 130-150inch deer in your neck of the woods if given the proper nutrition.
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