bigbendmarine
5 year old buck +
As a caveat to the thread title I can't say it is consistently a problem in our neck of the woods (North Florida), as I have seen some of our deer transitioning from 2.5 to 3.5 and 4.5 showing gains...
but...
In 2020 I happily gave this buck a few passes in hopes he'd gain tine height and / or mass with another year or two...
Only to have him show up in front of me again this year looking almost identical, and if anything possibly losing a bit of tine length on his G3s which were one of the factors that made it easier to pass on him in the first place. And pictures shared are from pretty much the same exact time of year (near Thanksgiving) even though plot was greener in 2020 as I was delayed planting in 2021 due to tractor thermostat having to be replaced.
Living on the land I hunt I get to see deer near-daily, and can add that this past year after the neighbor and I harvested two target list bucks it looked like this buck temporarily took over a fair amount of breeding privileges, though maybe he wasn't quite ready for it? The reason I say that is he looked REALLY worn down and thin by February, and to me looks a bit thinner this fall as well despite no intense weather stressors.
Just a few more pics actually taken from the stand for whatever they're worth / whatever anyone might be able to decipher from them. On a positive note, I recently had a decent stranger buck provide some camera hits making it all the easier to continue passing on this buck. NOT asking the question out of frustration as much as just curiosity whether or not those of you further north and / or in the midwest see the same phenomena in a portion of your bucks? Sure makes aging them a bit harder when their body shape doesn't seem to match expected changes.
but...
In 2020 I happily gave this buck a few passes in hopes he'd gain tine height and / or mass with another year or two...
Only to have him show up in front of me again this year looking almost identical, and if anything possibly losing a bit of tine length on his G3s which were one of the factors that made it easier to pass on him in the first place. And pictures shared are from pretty much the same exact time of year (near Thanksgiving) even though plot was greener in 2020 as I was delayed planting in 2021 due to tractor thermostat having to be replaced.
Living on the land I hunt I get to see deer near-daily, and can add that this past year after the neighbor and I harvested two target list bucks it looked like this buck temporarily took over a fair amount of breeding privileges, though maybe he wasn't quite ready for it? The reason I say that is he looked REALLY worn down and thin by February, and to me looks a bit thinner this fall as well despite no intense weather stressors.
Just a few more pics actually taken from the stand for whatever they're worth / whatever anyone might be able to decipher from them. On a positive note, I recently had a decent stranger buck provide some camera hits making it all the easier to continue passing on this buck. NOT asking the question out of frustration as much as just curiosity whether or not those of you further north and / or in the midwest see the same phenomena in a portion of your bucks? Sure makes aging them a bit harder when their body shape doesn't seem to match expected changes.