phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
Here is the 10.5 yr old buck
Age?
- Thread starter phil@thesidehill
- Start date
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
here is the undoctored pic of the buck in question.
and here are some of him from november and december
I call him Lucky because the neighbor's grandson took a shot at him in rifle season and shot his left antler off above the brow tine.
I was having a hard time figuring if he was 2 yr old or a 3 yr old. Body wise he is much bigger, fuller, and developed than our typical 2 yr olds. Antler wise his frame is at the very upper end for our typical 2 yr olds, but does not carry mass like our typical 3 yr olds would. He also is much wider than our typical 2 yr old. I am kind of hoping that he is super 2 yr old and that he has made it through the gauntlet of our rifle season! His chances for escaping hunter has now dramatically increased with late archery and flintlock the only season left!
and here are some of him from november and december
I call him Lucky because the neighbor's grandson took a shot at him in rifle season and shot his left antler off above the brow tine.
I was having a hard time figuring if he was 2 yr old or a 3 yr old. Body wise he is much bigger, fuller, and developed than our typical 2 yr olds. Antler wise his frame is at the very upper end for our typical 2 yr olds, but does not carry mass like our typical 3 yr olds would. He also is much wider than our typical 2 yr old. I am kind of hoping that he is super 2 yr old and that he has made it through the gauntlet of our rifle season! His chances for escaping hunter has now dramatically increased with late archery and flintlock the only season left!
Jordan Selsor
5 year old buck +
That was a fun one! That would be a good 2 year old for sure but prolly 3 ehhh. Either way he is gonna be fun to watch grow. Hope he makes it. Shot his antler off!? He is lucky haha
D
dipper
Guest
Always exceptions Jordan. A 10.5 is a totally different scenario Phil.
100", he will improve greatly next year regardless if he's a 2 or 3.
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
yeah i hope he makes it through the rest of deer season and the winter. I am hoping to pick up his sheds too! He's been pretty regular in my plot since novmeber.
The neighbor's grandson seemed a bit on the elmer fudd side of things if you know what i mean. from his recounting of the story the buck was facing away from him when he took the shot....i didn't question him on how or why he would shoot a deer that was heading away from him. He told me he saw the antler come off and walked up to where it was and picked it up.
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
I think you are dead on about the improvement potential for next year....now he just has to stick around for that long! you still leaning toward 2.5?
Steve Bartylla
5 year old buck +
I'm saying 2.5 or 3.5, leaning harder to 3.5. I'm saying he's not over 3.5 because his stomach isn't drawn up. 4.5+s in Dec have a strong tendency to have the rear portion of their stomach really shrink down, starting to be noticeable in mid Nov and generally obvious in Dec. It's from pushing themselves so hard during the rut and eating so little. The reason I'm leaning harder to 3.5 than 2.5 is because of how his neck intersects his brisket. 2.5s typically have some space between brisket and neck, even during the rut (wrote up to here before realizing I was on the 1st page and without seeing follow up pics).
After looking at the rest of the pics, I'm even more convinced he's 3.5.
After looking at the rest of the pics, I'm even more convinced he's 3.5.
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
Body wise he is on par with other 3 yr olds. he is much bigger than other 2 yr olds.
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
Thanks Steve! I really felt like the front half of the body was saying 3 yr old. That neck does blend well with his brisket....and the head does just seems pretty large and blocky.
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
now here is one that really throws me for a loop.....body doesn't look mature at all....but the headgear indicates otherwise.
Steve Bartylla
5 year old buck +
I'd put $100 on that being a stud 2.5 and really liking my odds...I put nearly no stock into headgear when it comes to aging deer. I could post pics from this yr of a 2.5 that's pushing 150 and a 3.5 that's right at boone. The 130ish buck I rolled last yr was a 4.5 that no one would believe was an IL 4.5, if they just looked at the rack (though he had a runt body, too....if it wasn't for history, I'd never have believed it myself)..everyone would think I'm wrong on all of them, but not a shred of doubt in my mind. A friend of mine that manages a natural genetics, no supplemental feeding high fence could show sheds off of all sorts bucks that none of us would guess within a yr of their age. racks are the poorest, least reliable indicators of age of all
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
I completely agree with that Steve...when i'm trying to figure out an age though...occasionaly the antlers can be a tie breaker of sorts. I usually don't add them in because most bucks seem to fall in line with local averages. but a deer like the second one i posted...the head gear literally makes my head explode to think that he could only be a 2 yr old. while we can produce some absolute studs in this state...they just arent that common. In my area, in particular the area where this property is...this would be the biggest 2 yr old ever....in parts of the mid west and canada i'm sure this is a common thing...but in NE PA...this would have to be a very rare occurence. I'm not saying its not possible...anything is possible...i'm just in awe at how rare this would be. Personally....i have really been hoping he is a 2 yr old.....because he most likely will be the biggest buck that I could have the opportunity to hunt on my property. Of course he has to live that long. I havent gotten a pic of him since rifle season ended, but I did get one of him about the middle of the second week...which means there is a decent chance he made it. making it through the first 3 days and the first saturday of rifle season is the hardest...and he did just that.
phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
i know this is only one pic...but i have more of this buck just not enough time to dig them all out on photobucket. I was getting pics of this buck last winter frequently. i always thought he seemed to look like just a baby, but he was sporting a pretty hefty 5 point side for a 1 yr old. I have no pics of him with both sides. He dropped one side sometime prior to late january when i first started getting pics of him. He held the other side until early march....and i never found either while shed hunting. In looking at him...i think he could be th 1 yr old version of the that big 2 yr old.
