That most of us are terrible at estimating the age of deer? I'm terrible at it, so I don't even offer up opinions, but I'm reading the "maybe next year thread" and see guess of 3.5, 4.5, 5, 6, and 7.5.

I posted a couple pictures during season and got everything from 2.5, gunna be a stud in 2 years, to 5.5, better shoot that deer.

No, I won't admit to that...He's 5+...Been doing this thing called deer hunting for nearly 40 years and regard myself pretty good at aging bucks. Takes time and practice - lots of it and helps to see lots of deer in field throughout the years..

One of those guesses is probably correct. haha

I can't do it with any accuracy. I don't want to offend (because many are my friends and/or people I respect) - but I don't think anyone can "on the hoof" with any deer older than 2 1/2 unless they know the particular deer's history.

I have had several noted taxidermists and game biologists tell me it is, at best, a guessing game. Some are better guessers than others, but even they are wrong much if the time. This is based on labratory ages compared with stated ages in their experience over the years.

A mature buck's "look" undergoes dramatic changes throughout the year and from year to year based on a myriad of factors. Which is all the "on the hoof" guys have to go on if the deer's history is not known.

I'm sure this opinion will not sit well with some.....

I think a lot of pictures are deceiving. I did some math this past year. I manage a pretty good size place and run all the cameras. I probably go through close to 100,000 game camera pictures per year. It takes a lot of pictures of a buck, from a lot of different angles for me to really make a decision on age. I can recognize some from year to year, which really helps, and that's about the only time that I will say something like "I think he's 6.5 this year". Most of the "Age him?" posts on here have 1 or 2 pictures of a deer, and usually very poor quality.

It's easier for me to put them in 3 age classes. Young (1.5-2.5), middle aged (3.5-4.5), mature (5.5 +).

Young bucks are easy and obvious.

Mature bucks are usually obvious, with post-mature being very obvious.

It's easy to tell if a buck is out of the "young" category, but the hardest part about it is whether to put them in middle-aged, or mature.

Even for me, looking at 100,000 pictures a year, and sitting in blinds 10X more than the guys on my lease, it's hard. Some bucks I will wait until I see them to determine age. And even then, I still am not 100% sure on the bucks I usually throw in the middle aged category. Our rules are to only shoot 5.5 year old deer and better. It's even harder for the guys that only hunt a couple weekends a year. We have screw-ups every year, and this is why I don't come off my rocker about it. Everyone makes their best effort. After most guys watch a bunch of young bucks for a couple days and they see a pretty nice framed middle aged buck, he looks like a monster.

I tell everyone "If you have to look at him twice, and second-guess his age, you should probably let him walk"

It's never an exact science. All deer are different, there is no one certain thing to look at to throw an age on them. Deer in one part of the state will be completely different than deer in another part of the state. I think it takes watching the deer on the property you are hunting a LOT to really get it figured out. Then there are still "borderline" bucks as I call them.

Aging deer from photos is always a challenge. So many variables. Camera angles, the way a deer is standing, time of year, no other deer in photo to compare to, poor lighting, poor focus and on and on.

I too have been doing this a long time and feel very confident in my ability to field-age a whitetail buck within one year. If I'm not sure, I always call them a year younger than I really think they are so as to always favor the ranch.

I've been blessed to hunt many good ranches with well balanced age structure. The ability to see many different bucks of various ages throughout a season, how they look, how they act toward one another, etc. is key to a fast track education in field aging a deer. And I've gotten to sit with some of the best in the business with much more experience than I'll ever have. Take that opportunity every chance you get it.

In short, from a photo it's tough. On the hoof, it's an educated guess. One other thing. I hunted for years with a south Texas rancher who knows as much about deer management as anyone. He told me years ago to classify bucks in three ways. Immature (1-2), Middle-aged (3-4) and mature (5+). I still try to estimate actual age, but his suggestion is an excellent way to classify your deer quickly.

By far not a pro, but hunting/game amanagement interests me heavily so I put everything I got into it.

I focus more on age groups than specific ages. Young, middle aged, mature, ancient. Ive read research that indicated that while the majority of the time age guess were not correct, but they were in the right ball park. There are also many guesses from people who have no idea what they are looking at. And like JHeflinland said, guessing from one picture can be a waste.

Some of y'all are very good. No doubt about it. But most us are still very bad at it.

I'm much more comfortable saying a deer is young, or older than I am trying guess a specific year range. Low hanging out, sway back, fat flat nose, probably older. Skinny belly, defined features, probably younger.

"sway back" and "pot belly" are two of the things that trip folks up most often, in my opinion. Be very careful when making a determination on age based on those two indicators. It depends on time of year but, more importantly how the deer is standing. If he isn't perfectly broadside with all four legs directly underneath him and in line, he may look pot-bellied or sway backed when, in fact, he's not. And every buck that is 2 1/2 or older looks pot-bellied in the early season, on a good ranch with good nutrition.

Also the definition of "mature" varies. A buck is an adult deer much sooner than his antler potential maximizes.

Yep that is something that is tricky. Non protein fed deer in native habitats look differently than protein fed deer on properties with densities shot down below carrying capacity.

That is also debatable, I have also read that its not uncommon for the best rainfall year from maturity on to be the best antler year.

Anyone want to take a run it him? I don't know for sure, I have 2 years of history on him, 2014 and 2015, and possibly more.

If you are trying, I would say that your deer herd is better for your efforts. It is better to try to kill an older deer than to just kill any buck that comes along. It takes time and effort to be able to do it with any accuracy and then you can still be wrong. But it does make hunters look critically at deer and the main purpose of the entire effort is helped just by looking critically at deer and your herd as a whole.

A few of you can not answer!

In my defense, I did say I suck at it lol.

I'd say he is definitely mature Jshouse

I'm not great at it, or even good. I like to try and I think I'm getting better but still have a lot to learn. I don't mind being corrected or told I'm wrong because if I was that hard headed and didn't take what some people have to say seriously ill never get any better at it.

I think a lot of people are not as good at it as they think they are. They think it's simple, because the guys on TV make it look simple.

Had one shot last year that a guy swore up and down was 5.5. Nice framed 9 point. Good brows. He had a short nose. Thick bases. Sagging belly.

I'd seen the deer and video'd him the week before. At first I thought he could be mature. But I let him walk and figured he was 3.5.

He came to camp with the deer and was proud, I tried to avoid confrontation about it, but I told him I had video of the deer and I thought he was 3.5. I explained it's not an exact science and I could be wrong.

Then we weighed the deer. All of the mature bucks we've killed on this place were about 130 pounds, field dressed.

The deer he shot was 100 pounds. I then told him I didn't think he was mature, and I still thought he was 3.5 because of his weight. He refuses to accept that he is wrong, because he doesn't want to admit that he is not good at aging deer. He watches hunting on TV all year, and thinks he's got it down. In all reality, he's spent about a total of 6 days in the woods the last 2 years. He sucks at aging them, and shot one of the better middle aged bucks on the entire place.

4? 5? 6? 7?

5 1/2 or 6 1/2

Last year

Mature for sure.

Getting into post-mature in 2015.

hence the reason you gave it