A Trophy Spike!

This picture was posted on Facebook page, Chasing Trophy Whitetails, which had a lot of responses. One response that I read which made sense, was that this is a debate/argument that will last for as long as man hunts deer.  He said, many studies and tests have been done, but remember, not all deer grow the same everywhere.  A study in Alabama, may not produce the same results as the same test in Michigan. Also, these studies can't allow for "freaks" of nature.  Perhaps this deer was injured shortly after birth. Perhaps a second generation doe bread with the father or uncle.  There are many reasons as to why something like this might have happened, but they may not be "Common" reasons.  This might be a 1 in 100,000 deer that this might happen in.  And this might be a 1 in 500,000 chance that is survived to this point.  Fact is, if this deer had shot 3-4-5 years ago, we never would seen/heard about it.  I have seen spikes that were fairly heavy and 10-12 inches long.  Had they not been shot, they might have ended up just like this deer in another 3-5 years.

Myself, I would mount this deer in a heart beat.  My congrats to the deer hunter and what a deer story he will tell for the rest of his life in our great wild outdoors.