A 75% reduction in 3 weeks !
Good if your a hunter , not so much if your a spike

Kill what YOU want
And be happy!

Update:
He appears to have made it through the season. Here's a photo I got recently of him fighting with his apparent twin. 1st I've ever seen 2 spikes lock horns.

Whatever your feelings on this topic, you just gotta like that picture!

Very cool, snapped a rare moment

I have trail cam pics of a piebold buck as a fawn. The next year I have pictures of him as a spike at one and half years old. Last year he showed up as a decent racked four point without any brow tines. This year at three and a half he is a wide eight point with brow tines. Are season here in PA is over and I haven't heard of anyone getting him. Sure hope he made it through and stays in the area. I have a feeling if he did he's going to be a brute.

The fact that Deer Ranchers will pay huge money for a superior buck says it all.Antler quality is largely a sex-linked trait and they have figured that much out.Sure there are a bunch of other factors but scrub begets scrub.I'm personally for shooting whatever you want if the population will support it,they all eat good.

The picture above, how do you know they are not fawns? Sure do have round little faces.
As to spikes/yearlings breeding I spent years as a teen guiding mule deer hunters in eastern Montana. When watching a herd buck and harem run across another big buck the two would tangle to one degree or another. As soon as the herd buck separated there was always a very small male or two running with the herd that would start jumping on the does while the big dudes had a stand off. Crazy to watch. Why would whitetail a be any different?
Since a boy, taking a big buck was certainly terrific, but not the peer driven obsession it is today. It has sadly changed a lot about the classic American deer hunt.

Osky

well the lease I'm on here in texas they want you to kill 3-1/2 year old bucks one as a trophy and another as a management then you can kill 2 does , well personally ill take the does and if i was allowed i would take more does . yes i would shoot a 3-1/2 year old buck if i saw one , and i understand its a business and it gives me a place to hunt . but i think it should be if its legal and your happy with it take it home with ya !! i would shoot spikes no problem i like to eat venison .

They do if thats all ya got. Lol. Thats all there is where i hunt

Meat's meat and brown is down. I have killed many bucks, does, and yearlings. Some of the bucks were very nice, with wide, heavy racks. They got killed simply because they were clear shots and within range of my gun, not because they had big racks. They were all made of meat.

Moosetrot

I had photos of their entire body. These 2 weren't fawns. I've personally never knowingly seen a fawn with horns, but I suppose it's possible.

In most cases spikes are from late breeding.. The does get bred late and therefore more chance to grow a spike rack. Usually lower buck numbers on the doe/buck ratio is reason for late breeding. Those spikes can grow into big ones, its not a genetic thing in most cases, unless its a 4 year old spike.