Deer age?

[Rzrbck918]

4.5 based on rack size and lack of old deer body characteristics but he looks young in the head down picture. No shame in shooting that deer though. Beautiful animal.

 

[npaden]

I'm surprised no one has asked when the pictures were taken. What a buck looks like in October is a lot different from what they look like in November and then what they look like in December around here. They tend to bulk up in November. I find it easiest to age a deer in late summer before they bulk up. Saggy skin on the neck and a sway back is an old buck.

 

[npaden]

Here's a buck that I have history with. 2021. I think he was 3.5 then. Could have been 4.5 but still looks a little young, more like a race horse.

This year. I'm pretty sure he is 5.5 now but possibly could be 6.5. Really hard to tell a lot of difference in body size from these pictures.

Then another picture from this year. This is where you can tell he is an old mature buck.

 

[okie archer]

In order to guess age look at the body. The chest and sway of the back. Also, knowledge of the deer heard in the area helps a tons as size and shape very. Altlers is a factor but the most important of all are the teeth.

Did you look at the teeth or tack pictures of the wear?

Didn't pay much attention to teeth nor did I keep them like I would now.

 

[NEWHunter]

I'm surprised no one has asked when the pictures were taken. What a buck looks like in October is a lot different from what they look like in November and then what they look like in December around here. They tend to bulk up in November. I find it easiest to age a deer in late summer before they bulk up. Saggy skin on the neck and a sway back is an old buck.

I asked. To your point, I think when they were taken matters some. I’ll go out on a limb and guess they were taken post rut - back half of November. His coat in the first picture looks pretty full and not much foliage.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Any of you experts care to guess this bucks age based on his body? No need guessing his score. I killed this deer in early December 2011 in northeast Oklahoma and have always wondered how old he was. Back then I didn't care as much about age as I do now. Didn't save the teeth.
Yes that's a corn pile he's eating on (legal in my state).
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3.5

 

[Northwoods]

Great buck! I don’t shoot big bucks very often so my opinion doesn’t mean crap but I’m in the 4.5 year old camp. I’d say 3.5 but his antlers have a lot of mass for a 3 year old. Doesn’t matter though, I’d be pumped to shoot a buck like that.

 

[Mallardsx2]

5.5

 

[OKED]

After getting our deer from the last couple years aged, I've learned that my guesses on age don't mean much.

Exactly, we sent some to deerage.com and we figured out that we were way off usually.