Some don't live up to the potential

gunther89

5 year old buck +
Here is a buck we figured would become a giant buck. As a yearling buck, he sported a split brow tine and had good genetics. We never got a picture or saw him last year and now this year as a 3 year old he showed back up. Not really what we were expecting from a deer that showed so much promise as a yearling. If I see him, he will get a arrow or bullet since he is a 3 year old.


 
That is some rack for a yearling. Maybe the last two winters have held him back. Still looks like a great buck to me.
 
He is far from reaching his potiental. That deer 5.5 will impress u
 
3 1/2 still putting growth into his body. My guess next year he will be adding length and more mass.
 
The last two years I had 4.5s scoring less than that deer.
It's had to grow bucks 140, they need age. A 3.5 doesn't usually make 140
 
3.5 year olds in our area are normally scoring between 130-150. We had 1 score 167 back in 2009. I'm not at that point where I will pass up a 3 year old if given a shot opportunity.
 
If you are happy with him, shoot! But if you shoot, you will for sure never see his full potential.
 
Good to nice is what you get at 3.5. If you want giant you'll have to wait until 4.5-7.5. It looks like you have an area that allows deer to grow a little so if you don't need the venison let him go and see what happens next year.
 
He has a lot of potential, potential to be on your neighbors wall.
 
I'm not sure. We normally every winter have all the deer in the area coming to our standing beans and corn and he was a no show. Maybe he was around but never showed up on camera.
 
Just a handful of points:

Yearling racks mean next to nothing, outside of giving clues to how well his birth was timed, nutrition levels were available and how much stress was/wasn't endured. When a yearling is a spike, it's hard to pinpoint which is the reason, but it's almost always due to one of those 3 issues.

Let `em go so they can grow infers that all bucks continue making significant jumps each year. That's just not the case. In fact, I'd say somewhere around 25% or maybe even a bit more just don't do much past 3.5. An episode of Grow `em Big that was supposed to already have been posted (D&DH allowed it to slip through the cracks, until I caught it the other day) will be coming out in about 3 weeks now on aging deer. In it I have 2 pics of Heart Breaker at 3.5, 4.5, 5.5 & 6.5 (I've since got him at 7.5 this year, as well). Each year, he's within 5" of what he was at 3.5, including this year at 7.5.

A nasty tempered 8 I shot as a 6.5 year old did nothing but add some mass and maybe 2" of tine from 3.5. a buck that died from EHD at 9.5 added a couple inches of spread and maybe 5" of combined mass and tine length from 3.5. A buck I never completely made up my mind if he was a true stud 3.5 or a dang good 4.5 the first year I got him on cam actually stayed nearly identical the following year and lost 10ish inches the year I shot him as a either a 5.5 or 6.5. Cliff, a 160ish 4.5 last year, I actually told the owner I wouldn't be surprised if he flat lined on growth, is within 3" at 5.5.

On the flip side, I've had a bunch of bucks that didn't do all that much up to 3.5 make 20+ inch jumps going to 4.5 &/or 4.5 to 5.5, but it's fairly rare to not see tell tale signs that they very well may make that jump (bumps indicating future junk, more than a typical short browed 8, main beams that appear a smidge too long for the number of points and so on).

As a vast over generalization, perfectly clean, symmetrical 3.5 year old racks tend not to add nearly as much as those that are showing signs of adding more tines and junk in future years.

by all means, if you get a chance, kill the thing this year and say thank you, may I have another just like him to hunt next year, please. If he slips through the cracks and is there again next year, I think his jump will surprise you. When I look at this years pics, I don't see future booner no matter how old he gets (I very well could be wrong, but that's my honest opinion). However, I think he would be a pleasant surprise next year for you.
 
I figure if the buck gets you excited then shoot it. If you have to think about it - just sit back and watch! I like to keep it pretty simple.
 
I figure if the buck gets you excited then shoot it. If you have to think about it - just sit back and watch! I like to keep it pretty simple.

Yeah...Just like bear hunting. If you have to ask yourself, is he big enough for me to be happy with, he's not.
 
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