Age as Always

[Steven Tolly]

We have had this 8 hanging around all summer and he shows up nightly on one camera or another. Any thoughts on age? He is a great looking deer, but I think young.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

no younger than 3

 

[SWIFFY]

Ya 3 or 4...? Looks like he'd be the kind with 14" 2's in a year or so!!

 

[Steven Tolly]

I was hoping for 3 1/2 that gives me a good enough reason to pass. We have had good luck seeing the same deer over a couple year span, but this year two of our bucks we had been chasing for two years disappeared. So maybe the pressure picked up on neighboring farms or I don't know, but he is living on their side of the farm with a good 12.

 

[Nova]

If he was on my farm in central MN I would say 4.5 for sure. In Iowa you guys grow them big real fast so he could easily be 3.5

 

[Steven Tolly]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I always like hearing other opinions to see if I am doing it close to right.

 

[hillrunner]

Usually if I can't make my mind up on age, I turn to previous years trail cam pictures. I can usually find a picture of most bucks from previous years if I search hard enough. It's pretty easy to identify a 2.5 so previous cam pictures can be the ticket to deciding if its a 3 year old.