Age?

[Nwest]

I thought it might be interesting to see how old everyone thought this deer is. I included the first picture of another buck as a size reference. Can't really use the antlers to guess his age, but he sure looks big bodied.

deer14.JPG (21.11 KiB) Viewed 323 times

deer13.JPG (27.37 KiB) Viewed 323 times

deer12.JPG (23.36 KiB) Viewed 323 times

[JPH]

He's a pig! Def 3.5+.

[charlie 01]

He is deffinetely an older buck with a large swollen neck. I'm not sure. Could be 3.5, could be 4.5. He is a big bodied deer. But whats on his head? Can't see it well. Is he a big spike, or are his antlers broken from fighting? In the past I have heard of big older deer with spike antlers.

Took a walk in a different area and saw an 8pt that is still in velvet. I'll soon post the pics. Saw him on the 18 th.

[Nwest]

Here's a close up of the antlers, a little better quality than the other picture, but not much. I think my camera is on its last legs. Looks like a longer spike on the left and maybe a spike with one other point on the right.

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[charlie 01]

Here's a close up of the antlers, a little better quality than the other picture, but not much. I think my camera is on its last legs. Looks like a longer spike on the left and maybe a spike with one other point on the right.

deer15.JPG

Could be that he is an old one and regressing in antler size. Over the years I have found deer to be as individual as we are. Some regress down to uglyness, while some keep getting bigger. I have sheds from a 14pt, the next year he was a 16pt. The following year, 3/4's through antler growth he got hit by a car and died. His antler growth was the same as the 16pt. He was so old, his teeth were worn down to almost nothing. I think he was aged at 6 or 7. Your spike could be a lot older than we think.

[JPH]

Your spike could be a lot older than we think.

Maybe, but I doubt he is on the downhill slide. Not that I have much experience aging really old deer, but that deer had none of the sagging in his belly or sway in his back that I would expect from a very old buck. I can't say anything obout where you guys hunt but a deer who lives long enough to decline in antler growth due to old age is more of a myth around here. There are just too many ways to die.

My guess is that this deer has some sort of injury or underlying defect in his antler growth.

What I find myself wondering is, "Whould I shoot him?" I always say that I hunt age over antlers, but I'm not sure I'd use my buck tag on that deer unless it was late in the season. Call me greedy.

[charlie 01]

Your spike could be a lot older than we think.

My guess is that this deer has some sort of injury or underlying defect in his antler growth.

Call me greedy.

Your probably right about the injury or underlying defect in antler growth. Although he looks good and healthy from what I can see. And usually with an injury, one antler side is usually good. The only time I saw a buck with both antlers small and screwed up is of an older buck that had a kind of brain disease. Something you would never want to run across, believe me.

No, I wouldn't call you greedy. Me, you, and many others would take a pass on this one.
How old would you say he is? He is certanly good sized. Some of these old ones hold their age well.
It would be interesting to keep track of him, to see what he is like next year.
We have one buck around here that had a nontypical side due to a car collision. You could see the scaring and hair missing from the side of his body. He was like that in antler growth for two seasons. This year, I have some pics of him and he is back to normal with both typical sides. Amazing, these Whitetails.

[JPH]

How old would you say he is? He is certanly good sized. Some of these old ones hold their age well.

Like I said, I'm far from expert on this. I place bucks into one of four categories. Buttons, yearlings, 2.5's and 3.5+'s. Once they appear to be 3.5 or older, I don't really concern myself with specifics. I'll sort that out if I get a look at their jawbone. And even with those broad categories, my estimates can tend to be inaccurate.

As an example, I had an 8pt. approach my stand this fall. I placed him in the 3.5+ category at about 80 yards, so I stopped worrying about size-up. He eventually gave me a 15 yd. shot. As he ran off, I knew he was a good deer but I had no further estimate of him. In these situations my deer usually suffer ground shrinkage, but not this one! He was a hog with lots of mass in his antlers. He field dressed out at 226 lbs, was blind in one eye, had a scar on his face and beat up ears. I started to guess him at at least 4.5 and possibly as old as 6.5. Well as it turned out, he was only 3.5 by tooth wear, but I'm not willing to bet the mortgage that that is 100% accurate. You just never know. At least I don't.

Anyway, I'll stop dancing and call the deer in the pic 3.5 for the sake of argument.

[Deebz]

Does his "face" look a little weird to you guys? It seems like his nose is short, and the whole face area looks kind of puffy to me...

[JPH]

Does his "face" look a little weird to you guys? It seems like his nose is short, and the whole face area looks kind of puffy to me...

It does not look unusual to me.

Bucks around my area will often take on a puffy, swollen or blocky look during the rut. My taxidermist and I actually had a pretty lengthy conversation about that. He said he sometimes has a hard time finding forms that reflect the full swell that our bucks take on during late-Oct. and early-Nov. He's going to have to add some molding around my buck's face to capture the look.

I've heard the rut's effect on a bucks behavior and appearance likened to someone taking heavy doses of steroids. The surge of testosterone adds muscle mass, increases aggression and sex drive and it can sometimes create a puffy appearance.

My guess, and I stress the word GUESS, is that this deer has more than enough testosterone but simply has a defect in his antler development.