10 point 1 1/2 year old??

[hookset]

I shot a 10 pt buck with my muzzel loader that I think is only a 1 1/2 old deer. It is a basket 9 with a little drop tine. The deer weighed maybe 130 pounds. I hunt in an ag area surrounded by a lot of swampy state land east of Detroit lakes. My buddies dont think this can be that young of a deer.

What do you guys think??

[BigWadeS]

Do you have a pic of the deer? I would think it could be possible, unlikely but possible

[smg04]

i shot an 11pt a few years back and when i regestered it the game warden was there checking out all the deer, he aged my deer at 1 1/2yrs really nice rack on him just a little thin, good genetics i guess, im sure his dad was a monster and he would've been in a few years

[HC Eye Hunter]

There are a lot of 1 1/2 year old 8s and some 10s in MN. Like the person before me said, good genetics.

[Gissert]

Got a 1.5 y/o 11 pointer three years ago.

Once I started using trail cameras, I have seen lots of 8 and 9's and several 10 point 1.5 y/o deer. If they have good genetics and food, it is not all that uncommon.

[bigbucks]

I would agree, my cousin shot a nice little 10 pointer with his bow several years ago, maybe 10-11" spread. I'm sure that was 1 1/2 year-old. I've shot at least one 8 & one 9 that were yearlings. I also shot a 4 pointer, that I thought was a decent 8 pointer when I shot it, that I'm sure was 2 1/2. It was a bigger deer, with a wider, heavier taller rack than any yearling 8 pointer I've ever seen. Some bucks racks just grow a lot more points than others.

[ChrisT]

I think it is very possible for the buck you shot to be a

1 1/2 yo buck. One thing I found very interesting is in the Deer survey I recieved last year in the mail from the MN DNR stated that around 75% of all 1 1/2 old deer are spikes. I wrote back saying this was crazy. I have many trail cams out and so do many in the area I hunt and I would say in SE Minnesota the number is more like 15-20% spikes. What got me was that they were using this argument to further the idea we should have a point restriction on bucks. I would bet there are more basket 6's and 8's shot than spikes.

[Code-Man]

I have hunted around Detroit Lakes for many years and most 1 1/2 yr bucks are 4 pointers area...I have been hunting the last two years up in the crookston area and a 1 1/2 yr buck seems to be a 6-8 pointer. I think it is genetics and food. A lot more crops up here in crookston then down in Detroit Lakes where we hunt. Just what i have found out through the years of hunting. Don't know if it is genetics, nutrition, luck or what but it does seem some areas produce bigger deer then others.

Code-Man

[LaVoi]

Depends what part of the state you are talking about. I agree with most any farmland the majority of 1 1/2 year olds will be a six or even an eight. However I tend to lean towards the DNR's point of view when you are talking about northern Minnesota whitetails. Where I hunt in far northern MN, it is heavily wooded, and there isn't a cornstalk within twenty miles. Here, I think it is at least 50% if noty more towards that 75% of 1 1/2 year olds being spikes. In fact I shot a 1 1/2 year old this year that had only inch long spikes! I watched it come in, checked over and over through my binocs for antlers, once I determined it was a doe, I took it. When I approached the deer, I noticed it had the wrong genitalia. I dug through his tuft of hair on his forehead and there they were, teeny little spikes. I was upset at that point, but anyway it was definately a 1 1/2 as our fawns up there are usually about the size of a large dog. This deer was much bigger, so anyway it proves that if the nutrition is not there they will simply put the nourishment to their body before they ever will their antlers.

[bigbucks]

I would agree with what you said. We see an occasional spike, my brother shot a one sided spike this year, but the lion share of yearlings are 6 pointers, with anything from a 4-8 being very common, but the forks probably the next least common. Lot of 5's & 7's for some reason, small & deformed.

The five bucks we took during first weekend were all yearlings, the one sided spike, two 6's, & two 7's, possibly the one 7 could have been 2 1/2, but I don't think so, just a bigger than average yearling.

I saw several small 6 pointers while bow hunting as well.

[lawdog]

There's a ton of little forks out there, but I don't see many true spikes either. These little basket rack 6's and 8's really shouldn't be shot as 1 1/2 year old deer. Think what they could be in two years!!! Man that is some great genetics we are losing... That's the one flaw about a pure point per side restriction, its called high-marking and its too bad. Better to take an inferior 1 1/2 year old than a future stud like this one.

[hookset]

Lawdog I agee 100%.

I am guilt ridden thinking about how cool of a deer that would have been in 2-3 years. expecially with the cool drop tine. It is not the rule to shoot such deer but it happened. he would have been something to see.

hookset

[lawdog]

Ya I totally wasn't ripping you or anything, its just a bad thing that can happen, especially if you don't have a lot of time to look at a buck like this before deciding. I suppose the other possibility is this was a very small, maybe inferior older deer??? Impossible to say, especially not even seeing a picture... Nothing you can do about it now, but enjoy your backstraps and look at that neat little rack!

[hookset]

I know you where not ripping on me. I honestly do feel bad. we have a master plan, and that deer was suppose to grace the walls of someone in our party... someday. Not sit in my garage with 10 other little bucks I have shot over the years.

I will try to get a picture posted soon.

hookset

[shae1986]

Hook,

It happens and i did the exact same thing last year. I shot a 9 pointer that was a 1.5 year old, i sent the teeth in and everything. I wasn't really happy with myself thta i shot it. Would have been a great buck in 2 years. I do all i can not to shoot young deer and when he ran out i forgot all about that and shot. Oh well, he did taste good thats for sure.

[harvey lee]

This buck is probably one of two ages. Either he was a young stud or a older buck going down hill. The teeth will age it for you very well.

[BobT]

I wonder how age is truly related to antler size. I'm thinking that genetics and food supply play a more involved role than age. At the same time, I imagine that a buck that is genetically geared for a large rack will show this early on but for each successive year his rack becomes even that much more impressive. For example. A buck destined to have a ten point rack may grow a six pointer his second time around but it may be small. Each year thereafter depending on his food supply, the rack will become that much more dense. The same age animal that is destined for eight points may only have forks his second time around.

Bob

[LABS4ME]

I just read an interesting article on antler growth. It was a long drawn out study and it explained a couple of facts I didn't know.

1st. However many points a buck carries on his rack at 3 1/2 is the same amount he will carry the rest of his life. ie: an 8 will always be an 8 and a 10 will always be a ten. This is barring injuries and I believe does not take into account kickers and drops or the like... just the mainframe

2nd. I spike does not nessacarily correlate into bad genetics. It could be a problem of the food supply, lack of minerals or stress. By the 4th year (trophy status) a spike can be at or bigger than a deer with multiple points on it's 1st rack. The one difference that was fairly constant was a spike will still have a smaller rack even on it's second go around.

Good Luck!

Ken

[bigbucks]

In most cases I think spikes tend to be more because they're younger yearling bucks. In my experience the spikes we've seen for the most part have also been by far the smallest bucks in the woods. I think they were most likely just late fawns from the previous year, they just need a little catch up time.

Any info I've read in Deer & Deer Hunting or various books on whitetails seems to indicate that. They also say although genetics are important in developing big racks the single biggest factor consistently listed is age.

[Ron Burgundy]

A friend of mine shot a 10 in Fillmore county first season. The DNR guy said it was 1 to 1.5 yrs old.

[elevatorguy]

Well I am not a bioligist but I think there are many things that can factor into that. I have gotten a spike the size of a fawn. But yet I have seen spikes that are large bodied like an 8. In my opinion deer are like humans to a point. Some mature quicker than others or they may take longer. And yes I think food and genetics have a factor.

Biggest thing is like I said I think they can be like humans some mature faster than others..