How old?

[Bambistew]

I have only seen two bucks that lived more than two years with regressed antler growth. This is one of them. I don't know how old he lived but he is clearly in double digits judging by the number of years I saw him. I don't have pictures from the early year as I didn't have the better camera back then. The second year in the picture is his best year and I found him dead the last year. I should go back and see if I can find a jaw and send it in. I clicked on the one picture too may times and can't figure out how to edit it.View attachment 162783View attachment 162784View attachment 162784View attachment 162785View attachment 162786View attachment 162784

I have about zero desire to hunt eastern MT with 10,000 other people, but I could be convinced to going out there to chase a buck like this. Wow, what a great buck.

 

[Art Vandeley]

To me the bedded buck above looks much older than the first picture and little to no difference in antler size. Just my opinion, neither are dead so I have no results.

 

[npaden]

I went back and found some pictures to show the older whitetail that had some regression from 7.5 to 8.5.

Pictures aren't great, but should give a general idea.

Here he is at 7.5 before shedding his antlers:

Last picture I have of him at 8 on trail camera:

To me you can see he lost at least a couple inches on spread, maybe closer to 3 or 4.

Here he is at 7.5 from the side:

Best picture of him at 8 from the side:

You can see on the right side he went from a pretty good tine length on the g3 to just a crab claw.

Some bad field photos:

For sure the same deer and for sure he regressed from 7.5 to 8.5. Was there other factors involved other than age? It was a dry year the year he was 8.5 but not too much. I had just started feeding protein pellets that year (when he was 8.5) so you would think nutritionally he would have had a better chance to have good antler growth.

I think he dropped close to 10" in score, He only scored 112" at 8.5. Looking it over again he may have dropped less than I thought. I think he gained some on his brow tines that last year.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

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To me the bedded buck above looks much older than the first picture and little to no difference in antler size. Just my opinion, neither are dead so I have no results.

I would agree. The bottom buck looks a lot heavier. Face looks older, although shorter, but that may be the angle.

 

[bigsky2]

Anyone want to take a guess at the age of this buck? This isn't the first year I've seen him so I have a pretty good idea of how old he is, just curious to see what others think.

 

[Irrelevant]

6

 

[antlerradar]

I am going to say 5, maybe 4

 

[MTTW]

4 to 8 if I had to pick a single digit it would be 5

 

[Nick87]

5

 

[bigsky2]

I'm pretty sure he's 4. He spent his summers around my neighborhood on the edge of town and I first noticed him in 2018. I didn't really take the time to take photos of him that summer but I do have a couple. His body is a little bigger than his buddies, so maybe he is a year older than them. Maybe he is the same age and is just a bigger healthier deer. From my experience, it seems like bucks tend to hang out with bucks that are the same or similar age, so I'm calling him 2.


This is him the next year in 2019 when I think he was 3.



This year at age 4 he turned into this.





This is a classic example of what could happen if more bucks with the right genetics made it past age 3 in Montana. If he lived out of town on public land, he likely would have been killed at age 3 and we would have never got to see him make the big jump at age 4.

 

[npaden]

I think you may be a year short on his age. I think 5 is a good guess even with your series of pictures of him.

One thing that I use to determine age is comparing the hindquarter to the front shoulder. If they are 2 or younger they have a bigger hind quarter than front shoulder, at 3 it is about equal and then from 4 on it seems like their front shoulders are bigger than their hind quarters.

In that first picture with the other bucks his body is bigger and his front shoulders are already as big as his back end. I think he is 3 in that picture.

For sure a beautiful buck though!

 

[EYJONAS!]

I'm pretty sure he's 4. He spent his summers around my neighborhood on the edge of town and I first noticed him in 2018. I didn't really take the time to take photos of him that summer but I do have a couple. His body is a little bigger than his buddies, so maybe he is a year older than them. Maybe he is the same age and is just a bigger healthier deer. From my experience, it seems like bucks tend to hang out with bucks that are the same or similar age, so I'm calling him 2.
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This is him the next year in 2019 when I think he was 3.
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This year at age 4 he turned into this.
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This is a classic example of what could happen if more bucks with the right genetics made it past age 3 in Montana. If he lived out of town on public land, he likely would have been killed at age 3 and we would have never got to see him make the big jump at age 4.

Where do you live?

 

[Schaaf]

“6-8, but probably closer to 8” according to 2 bios

I’ll post teeth pics if anyone’s interested.

 

[Fire_9]

View attachment 162966“6-8, but probably closer to 8” according to 2 bios

I’ll post teeth pics if anyone’s interested.

With a beard like that I figured he’d be older than 8...

 

[6mm Remington]

I just got this big old guy in Montana. Essentially just a huge 2 point but he does have a small 3rd point on the one antler. Notice he has a huge body, a neck like a 5 gallon bucket, and a wide broad white nose. I had a biologist age him at 7-8 years by looking at his lower jaw and teeth. Pretty cool buck to me.

David

 

[Schaaf]

With a beard like that I figured he’d be older than 8...

I tell him almost daily he has a very nice beard and if I could grow one half as nice maybe my dad would look me in the eyes.

 

[TheJason]

View attachment 162966“6-8, but probably closer to 8” according to 2 bios

I’ll post teeth pics if anyone’s interested.

Yes please.

 

[MTLabrador]

 

[Schaaf]

Yes please.

 

[ZMT588]

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