How old?

Anyone care to guess on this Texas buck? I hope my son gets to hang a tag on him Saturday evening.

5786E2FF-DAAC-4F79-847F-6675F764BD3A.jpeg03CD3618-79CA-4385-A913-35A6389185B5.jpeg

Don’t mind the feeder legs in the background! 😎

P.S. - We are still over a month away from the Mule Deer rut here.
 
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I truly believe that the vast majority of the "big" deer getting killed in Montana are 3.5 or sometimes 4.5 year old bucks with great genetics. The majority of hunters just can't pass up anything with extra points or a decent frame. I see a lot of pictures of baby faced bucks with extras that people refer to as "giants". The bucks that get to 5 years or older are usually bucks that don't have the genetics to ever get big. Bucks that have both age and good genetics are unicorns in this state.

I want to get better at judging age so I have started to keep the teeth off everything I kill to get lab aged. In the past I have had a couple disagreements with people about the age of a buck that they killed and when that happens in the future I am going to ask them if I can have the teeth to send in.
 
There are a lot of factors that come in to play to create a buck that scores high, as has already been mentioned. I would guess the vast majority of bucks don't have, and never will have, the right combination to make the cut.

Based on your first photo, I would have guessed the deer to be older, based on the color of his face. Looks a bit grey. But who knows. Definitely doesn't look as old in the following photos.
 
npaden said:
Anyone care to guess on this Texas buck? I hope my son gets to hang a tag on him Saturday evening.

View attachment 162643View attachment 162644

Don’t mind the feeder legs in the background! 😎

P.S. - We are still over a month away from the Mule Deer rut here.
Click to expand...
Click boom, hard to tell but he is better than 3.5 that's for sure. Are you going to be using drone technology for this? 😉

Solid buck for sure
 
Greenhorn said:
Nothing to do with antlers. See Snowymtn's post above.

Ever walk behind a gal on the sidewalk and you're like "damn".. they she turns around and your like.. ewwww..she's the crypt keeper look alike. I'm only looking at the head/face on that deer.

@Stubaby is there an eartag on that buck? Show a picture of it's teeth. I'm still guessing older, such as 5+
Click to expand...
Interesting, I got a small 3x3 in MT that had this for lack of better word grizzled face, I've always kinda wondered if he was actually the oldest buck I've shot.

Pics of him are terrible...
1605741540622.png1605741577871.png

Similar story on this one...
1605741725044.png

These I guessed were X respectively
1.5
1605741832022.png

2.5
1605741895432.png

3.5
1605741945537.png

Also 3.5
1605742038756.png
1605742015029.png
 
wllm1313 said:
Interesting, I got a small 3x3 in MT that had this for lack of better word grizzled face, I've always kinda wondered if he was actually the oldest buck I've shot.

Pics of him are terrible...
View attachment 162686View attachment 162687

Similar story on this one...
View attachment 162688

These I guessed were X respectively
1.5
View attachment 162689

2.5
View attachment 162690

3.5
View attachment 162691

Also 3.5
View attachment 162693
View attachment 162692
Click to expand...
First buck, what did his teeth look like? The oldest buck I killed was deaf and blind in on eye, only had two teeth left. I literally was standing 35 yards away yelling. "HEY BUCK!" trying to get him to turn for a better shot with my bow... eventually I just walked around him to get a better angle. Lots of points, but little rack and tiny body, zero fat.
 
So are we ever going to keep know “how old?” Or are we just supposed to be in awe or aware of the justified dink shooting? What did the teeth reveal?
 
Dinkshooter said:
I’ve found enougsheds from the same buck, even years apart to notice one thing, they either have it or they don’t. A big buck will blow up early and keep it.
Click to expand...

Yep! I’ve got 7 sheds off the same buck and outside of the ones I found brown I have no idea where they fit year to year. He never had “it” to score well and really doesn’t look much like any of the other deer I’ve seen in the same area over the years
 
06A80E21-B03C-4F84-96DA-8FDF63434A51.jpeg
Only ones I know are in order are the brown 2x3 set and the brown 4 pt side. Everything else is a guess
 
This is a picture of the sheds from three buck that lived in the same bachelor group. Nutrition in the womb may have played a role but year to year conditions on the ground did not. The deer were eating the same bushes. I have found sheds form lots of bucks that lived to old age. I agree with Dink. Once deer is born his antler potential is for the most part set. A real bad winter or dry growing season might knock 5 % or so of his score but that is about it. A tough year is not going to turn a 180 in to a 140 and good year is not going to turn a 140 into a 180.
The single set is well over 200, The best year on the middle set is close to 180 and the last buck never broke 140. There was also another buck in the group that was a heavy old three point. I found a few of his antlers and I don't think he ever made 120.
 

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