Age this deer

[Bill]

He just doesn't look like an old buck to me. Thoughts? He does have a little thickness to his chest, but he looks sleek and slender to me. Long nose. No ass at all.
View attachment 67111

What does he have close by to eat? He isn't eating corn off the stalk. Roman nose and little stickers and kickers don't happen on puppies. His hind legs are extended back in the pic and one front extended forward. I think he might surprise you.

 

[T-Max]

What does he have close by to eat? He isn't eating corn off the stalk. Roman nose and little stickers and kickers don't happen on puppies. His hind legs are extended back in the pic and one front extended forward. I think he might surprise you.

1,000 acres of soybeans. And one of the reasons I don't put too much thought into age other than I think it is fun? Probably 2018 I was able to help my dad harvest a 160" 8 pointer. You would have thought that buck was 3, but we had 3 years of sheds off of him and trail camera pics for 4 years prior to shooting him. sent his teeth in and they came back 6.5

Muscle definition in front shoulders. My guess is 3.5, dandy buck.

I'm sure this is him last year. I was thinking 3 maybe 4 then. Now I'm thinking he was 3 last year and 4 this year. Either way I am hoping I can put dad on him. I am not going to commit to anything until after the first week of October. That's usually when the donkeys come out of hiding and give me a peek. I love to speculate even though it doesn't matter at all.

 

[Mortenson]

I agree with Bill. That deer doesn't have a massive build but I've seen a few 4.5-5.5 yr old bucks that have the same build. Some deer have different thyroids and appetites than others.

 

[Mortenson]

Let's see a pic of the 160 8!

 

[T-Max]

I said 2018, but it looks like it was 2016. He had 13" G2's and 11" G3's for reference. No mass at all... This is a November pic, but he didn't rut much at all. He was never bigger or smaller than this it seemed. I think from the tip of his left G2 to the base was something like 22". Good buck.

 

[T-Max]

And 2015 at 5.5 according to his teeth.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

He just doesn't look like an old buck to me. Thoughts? He does have a little thickness to his chest, but he looks sleek and slender to me. Long nose. No ass at all.
View attachment 67111

He could be 4.5. Another 3 weeks and I bet it is a lot more clear with him once he starts piling on the weight. I agree that his chest is definitely starting to develop. It could be the posture, but it looks like he has a slight dip in his back. But his legs look awfully lanky. He definitely would be really interesting to see later in the fall and of course next year if he made it.

 

[omicron1792]

How about this one? Ha. My buddies high fence deer. Ridiculous.

 

[T-Max]

How about this one? Ha. My buddies high fence deer. Ridiculous.
View attachment 67154

6 months tops. It’s still got spots! Easy one…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

We used to send in teeth from every buck we shot in MN and WI for cementum annuli aging. While cementum annuli aging isn't perfect, it gave us a second opinion to use along with our educated guesses. We had many of the 100-120" deer we assumed were 2-3 year old bucks end up being 4-6 years old. Large bodied (field dressed 180-230) bucks always tended to be 4+ years old even if their antlers weren't great. The opposite was not true though, we had a few smaller bodied bucks that were older than we thought.

More often than not, we assumed that deer were younger than they were. I have no doubt there are a couple 125" 2 year old bucks out there, but I'd say there are far more 3 or 4 year old 125" bucks that people incorrectly assume are 2.5. Unless a buck had a torn ear or something else that clearly identifies him as a fawn or 1.5 year old buck, it would be pretty hard to definitively say what age a deer is.

 

[cbw]

Neighbors can be a bitch. I feel like it is slowly getting better for people who are at all interested in killing bigger bucks. People are coming around to the importance of trigger discipline. It doesn't work at all if people can't communicate. They assume they better shoot it because the neighbors certainly will.

Another member on this forum has all of their bucks aged and I was blown away by how much older they were than I had thought. I'm going to start aging each of our bucks just to hopefully learn something from it.

I started sending the front teeth in to be aged at Matsen Labs. They charge a flat fee for the first 5 deer. Last year I invite my neighbors that I will send theirs in for no charge. Had one take me up on that this year. Sparks some good conversation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brian662]

Age estimates from these two...? Pretty good broadside profile from each.

 

[Mortenson]

4.5 and 3.5

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

6.5 and 4.5

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Both 3 1/2


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brian662]

Another broadside shot of one of the deer pictured above. Any updated guesses?

 

[Mortenson]

Ok let's go 5.5. It's rack time

 

[T-Max]

4.5 and 3.5 above. This is the 4.5 from above. Sticking with that.

 

[Brian662]

I believe he's 5.5

Heavy buck that wont score exceptionally well for a 10 point but he's at the top of the list this year. Passed him a few times last year hoping for a jump in growth but maybe he added a few inches, certainly not much.

Archery pass last year.



Gun pass

2024 trail cameras

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

It is amazing how much more mass that buck has at the base when he looks towards the camera versus the other views. That's a cool buck.