How old do you think these bucks are? I'm going into my third year of hunting and still not really sure on how to properly age a deer. The first one looks old to me because of how much grey he has on his face. Maybe a 5 or 6 year old? The second I saw last year at the beginning of the season but never again after that. I'm thinking 5 as well. What do ya'll think?

Looking at straight toplines, thin faces, not very deep in the chests, I'm guessing no more than 4.5 max. I'm interested to see what others have to say.

Tuff time of year to age deer you don't have history with. Top picture you cant see much to give an age estimate on more pictures will always help. I don't think any of them look particularly old, but better pictures and different time of year may change that.

+1

I would say 3.5 or 4.5
-Chest isn't deep
-Skin isn't sagging
-No belly sag
-Straight back
Look for the same traits in deer for age as you would expect to find in humans -----sunken posture
-excess wieght
-graying loss of color in hair
-etc...
And check with aging the harvested animals by there teeth

+2

Correct me if I am wrong, but fawns were just born recently so there are no half aged deer.

Don is right 4 MAX

2 or 3 based on body.

Really hard to judge this time of year, but I would agree with this ^^^

Agree with 2-3 tops...these don't appear to be old. Can always be fooled, but the overall body structure says these are not aged warriors but rather young stallions waiting for their moment this fall.

My best guess......3

I appreciate the replies everyone. Looks like I have a lot to learn about aging deer. I'm hoping to bag a mature one this year, so I'll look for the traits stated above and hopefully narrow down may target buck.

I wouldn't get all hung up on years of age. Mature or immature is all I really try to do.

If you like it shoot it.

When it get closer to season they will start to look more their age.

agree with what therancher said, don't get bogged down in years per se, get bogged down in young, middle aged, and old...those are generally a lot easier to figure out until a deer gets so post-mature they appear immature, but that's a different ballgame and there are signs to differentiate as well. Back to the point, any given deer could easily fall within a 2 year span, and unless you have a HF breeding pen to know exactly which deer is which, it can be incredibly hard to nail down a specific time for a specific deer. Work on separating young, from middle aged and old and the rest is what fancies you...

I think they are both 3 yr olds +/- a year

3