How old was this buck?

[appaloosa]

Let's play a fun game of guess the age...
I just got the lab-confirmed age results back from this deer that my son harvested in 2023. Can you guess his age from live pictures?
The first picture was taken in the fall of 2022 (hardhorned). The second two pictures were early September 2023. This deer put on a lot of antler growth between 2022 and 2023. Was it due to year-to-year "bump" at a common age, or more a reflection of habitat conditions between the two years, or perhaps both?
For reference, his gross score was 174"
Enjoy

 

[th88]

6. He just has that old deer look to me.

 

[rjthehunter]

I like it.

I'm not super familiar with mule deer and their best growth years, but it seems like our whitetails really mature from 3-4 years of age. So typically a 3 year old looks young, then when they turn 4, they are usually filling out nicely. They then seem to plateau for another year, so 4-5 they're stay fairly similar. Then when they turn 6, it's either a big jump, or they start falling off.

This buck looks old. Looks like he got his ear stuck in a meat slicer at some point. I'm going to guess he's 6

 

[Forkyfinder]

4.5 in hard horn picture, 5.5 in velvet.

 

[Schaaf]

Big pot belly on him. Its always hard to tell in still solo shots but I’d take a wild guess at 5 or 6.

 

[rogerthat]

Big pot belly on him. Its always hard to tell in still solo shots but I’d take a wild guess at 5 or 6.

I agree. Five or older after that anyones guess.

 

[DFS]

6 plus I would lean towards plus

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

6 + I'm going by pot belly and antler bump.

 

[Oak]

7

 

[tkhuntsman]

Let's play a fun game of guess the age...
I just got the lab-confirmed age results back from this deer that my son harvested in 2023. Can you guess his age from live pictures?
The first picture was taken in the fall of 2022 (hardhorned). The second two pictures were early September 2023. This deer put on a lot of antler growth between 2022 and 2023. Was it due to year-to-year "bump" at a common age, or more a reflection of habitat conditions between the two years, or perhaps both?
For reference, his gross score was 174"
Enjoy

Gonna say 5

 

[cahunter805]

Awesome buck! Hard to guess ages but I’m going 4.5

 

[HappyCamper]

I’d guess 4.5 but maybe I’m just confused since they don’t live to be older than that very often where I come from…

 

[Whitetail_kid]

I’d guess 6

 

[jvanhoy]

From the hard horn pic I would think he had to be at least 5 then. So I’ll go with 6.

 

[6mm Remington]

7

 

[Valley1320]

6 Or 7 my guess

 

[pabearhunter]

3.5 Hard life.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Alright @appaloosa spill the beans

 

[belshawelk]

4. His nose just isnt that of an older buck

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

8.5