Seems like most deer are 3yo or less in Texas. Anyone else notice that?

Seldom do people pay attention to younger deer. The third year is when most actually take notice via antlers

I could take a wild guess and say that 70 percent are 2 and under and 30 percent are 3 and older in east Texas. that's my survey since the early 1990s

I would say the average deer age today is much older than 25 yrs ago. People are allowing deer to get more age on them it seems these days(even outside the AR counties). Lot will depend on the management program in a particular area or even ranch(es) also.

Are we talking all deer or just bucks? I would say that doe average age is older than 3, which would bring the average deer age up.

Buck mortality rate outside of hunting is fairly high. Factor in a lot of people shooting 2.5 and 3.5 yr olds as trophies and I would easily believe the average buck age is 3.5 or less.

Won't be very many 4.5 year old bucks this year due to the 2011 drought....tons of good looking 3.5 year olds due to Spring rains and a ton of 2.5 year olds as well, but these will still look young. 3.5 year olds are in trouble because hunters will get impatient

this will be a good year to thin the does (and observe the good looking young bucks)

although there will be a handful of 5.5/6.5 year olds on the well managed properties, the general low fence property in TX is going to see A LOT of young bucks showing up at the cleaning shed (more than normal this year)

Looking back at the hunting I have done in my childhood, how my parents and grandparents and all my family hunted, mature deer were a very rare exception, definitely not the rule.

That's why folks always asked about the weight of a buck before anything else. The bigger (heavier) the deer, generally the older and that came with a bit of status among hunters back in the day. That and the fact that the larger bodied animal had more meat which, in those days, was all anyone really cared about.

I agree with the buck weight being a factor, but I think deer are like humans and we all look different. Especially after running the girls hard. One of my biggest bucks in east tx was one of my lightest too. He was just a small looking deer. I dragged him by the handle bars for 300 yards in the ice and took only one break. Ive killed some in the same area that I couldn't drag 10 yrds without falling down and bitchen. an extra 75 to 100 pounds makes a huge difference when dragging a deer. And as for the doe question, it was a good one. I factored it into my survey. Not a lot of does get killed by hunters in my area, but the cars do a number on them. The cars kill more does and young bucks than I could ever think about surveying.

Hunt a small 100 acre place between Brady and llano for the last 20+ years. I've never seen a deer older than 3.5 in person and only 3-4 on camera.

I hunted one year on another 100 acre place in Jones county and shot a 6.5 year old buck and saw multiple 4.5-5.5. I had several 5.5-7.5 year old deer on camera. Both bucks taken off that place that year weighed over 200 lbs.

Texas is a big place and the average age and size of the deer vary extremely depending on where you are.

Dont really understand the age thing. When I pull thr trigger they are not getting any older.