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How old is he, and how can you tell?

3,678 Views | 18 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by texrover91
Kool
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11:11a, 1/21/19
AG
I just got this photo of a buck taken by a relative's friend from the family ranch. Unfortunately, he met his demise earlier in the season and probably never made it to the rut. What is an optimal age to harvest a nicer buck?



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highvelocity
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11:19a, 1/21/19
AG
with a buck that looks like that with superior genetics, (that is making the assumption that this is a low fence place in south texas where bucks like this dont appear everyday) i would let him ride until he was in the 6.5/7.5 range to make sure to optimize his reproduction capability. hard to see his neck and belly, but he looks like 4.5 / too young to be taken just yet. great buck for what he is, but, just like myself, i would have a hard time passing on him if this was the "once in a lifetime buck" for that particular shooter.

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ttha_aggie_09
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11:23a, 1/21/19
AG
Any age is going to be a WAG. That deer looks on the younger side of mature but it's almost impossible to tell.

What age to harvest the deer is open for extreme debate... I've been on ranches where they shoot deer at 7.5 for trophies (S. TX) and I have been on ranches where it's just a "mature" 9 points or better.

The fact is, aging deer is a lot of guesswork. If you do it enough and track deer via game cameras, it becomes more of a science. If you can get to the point where you can realistically tell a deer is either mature (4.5-6.5) or post mature (7.5+) you're doing good.

We harvest all of our bucks at 5.5+ with a heavy preference on shooting 5.5s after rut so they can breed. If everyone I hunted with could age deer better, we would push it to 6.5.

I would highly recommend placing an age restriction one year above what you deem acceptable because people will shoot deer younger than the guidelines... usually by mistake.

And before a couple of posters chime in with immature vs mature vs post mature, I am in 100% agreement with you on difficulty actually aging deer. Our system of cameras of tracking bucks year to year helps us understand with great confidence, how old a deer is +/- a year, sometimes to the exact year if I have consistent pictures. I'm also a nerd and still have pictures from late 2000s of bucks and enjoy looking at them.

Hope that helps!
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schmellba99
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11:38a, 1/21/19
AG


Not definitive, but something to give a basis to go by anyway
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BoerneGator
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In reply to Kool • 11:47a, 1/21/19
AG
Quote:
What is an optimal age to harvest a nicer buck?
Define "optimal". There's the rub. Everyone will have a slightly different definition of the term, depending upon their own situation and biases. Landowners, outfitters, hunters, and biologists ALL have different perspectives and goals. It all hasta be balanced and sorted out, and there is no "one size fits all" answer to your question.

For everyone but the hunter, the later/older, the better, because that enables him to make his (max) impact upon the genetic pool of the herd. And from that perspective, he's never too old.

But from that of the hunter, especially one paying a substantial fee for the opportunity, he's mainly interested in bagging the biggest buck he can. Even the father or grandfather taking his son or grandson on his first hunt will allow a "too young" buck to be harvested in order to satisfy his, and his son's, ego driven desires.
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highvelocity
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In reply to schmellba99 • 11:48a, 1/21/19
AG
this is always a pretty good shoot / dont shoot illustration i use for newer hunters
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Kool
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11:53a, 1/21/19
AG
All that helps, thanks. My relative is doing a good job with feeding, I'm not so sure that who he lets harvest what deer is being managed as well. That buck looked a little young to me.



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Badace52
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In reply to Kool • 12:18p, 1/21/19
AG
I'd say by those latest pics he is a fat 4.5 maybe 5.5.
CM
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Kool
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In reply to Badace52 • 12:22p, 1/21/19
AG
The night feeder shots are not him, they are just an example of what other bucks are on the ranch and whether the harvested buck is an anomaly or not. He is obviously feeding them well, at least.
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skelso
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12:36p, 1/21/19
AG
Hard to tell age from a pic of a deer laying on the ground, other than to say he's as old in that pic as he'll ever get...

If your "how do you tell" question is in regards to accurately aging, check his teeth. But even that, to be truely accurate, requires some background data on the area. I have seen teeth from 3.5yo deer, in sandy areas, read like 6.5yo going by the standard measure.

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Colonel A. 1976
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12:46p, 1/21/19
AG
Well, he won't be getting any older that is for sure!!
Col. A 1976
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FSGuide
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12:56p, 1/21/19
Take the chart that Smellba posted and turn it sideways. Should make it easier.
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ttha_aggie_09
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In reply to Kool • 12:57p, 1/21/19
AG
Kool said:
The night feeder shots are not him, they are just an example of what other bucks are on the ranch and whether the harvested buck is an anomaly or not. He is obviously feeding them well, at least.

Huh? That deer in the first picture looks like him in a previous year... kickers, tines are very similar. His G2 on his left side is shorter and he doesn't have the same mass but the characteristics are pretty dang close.

Might be wrong just wondering.
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Kool
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In reply to ttha_aggie_09 • 1:03p, 1/21/19
AG
I guess it's possible, but I think the dead deer is the Fattie's little brother. The feeder pic was from 2016, more than two years earlier than the dead guy passed away. I had that same thought as you initially. I have asked for more photos but only have this one so far. If it is the same guy, then he is obviously quite old and hopefully he had lots of trysts with the ladies on the ranch
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PFG
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1:04p, 1/21/19
AG
Quote:
with a buck that looks like that with superior genetics


How do we know anything about a deers genetics from a photo?
schmellba99: Hard to believe people are looking at what is happening and thinking this is something other than a flu like bug
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ttha_aggie_09
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In reply to Kool • 1:28p, 1/21/19
AG
Cool! I was just wondering... a lot of similarity but it could very well be a different deer.
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ttha_aggie_09
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In reply to PFG • 1:32p, 1/21/19
AG
LiveOak said:
Quote:
with a buck that looks like that with superior genetics


How do we know anything about a deers genetics from a photo?

He's not expressing signs of:

Melanism
Albinism
Piebaldism
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Kool
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In reply to ttha_aggie_09 • 1:36p, 1/21/19
AG
ttha_aggie_09 said:
Cool! I was just wondering... a lot of similarity but it could very well be a different deer.

Now I'm less sure.
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Badace52
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1:45p, 1/21/19
AG
Uhh that sure looks like the same deer to me, to have racks that similar they would have to bee VERY close genetic relatives, like twins, which I suppose is possible. It looks like that backwards leaning tine on the left either snapped off or didn't come all the way out this year.
CM
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texrover91
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11:42p, 1/21/19
AG
Another aspect to aging deer that makes it even harder is the time of year. I've got a deer our biologist and I aged at 5.5 that looks just like the one on schmellba's poster - even his antlers (less the mass) - big belly and folds of skin on the neck.

That was in September.

Later in the year and with the rut his neck had swelled up and the folds were there if you looked closely but not as prevalent- made him look a year younger.

my policy for bucks is old bucks and big bucks are just that - if you spend 20 minutes second guessing youre likely trying to make him older/bigger than he actually is. But I think that mentality comes with being patient and looking at lots of deer. Maybe even shooting some too young.

Shooting a deer at the wrong age can be disappointing, but, sometimes it's the only way to take the next step in learning to age deer.
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