Age this fat boy, and is he legal?

My wife has been a sporadic hunter over the years, and normally doesn't care about deer, but this buck has her fired up. Is he as old as we guess him, and do you all think he will pass AR? Thanks guys

Post mature on age and to close to tell from those pics.

For me, and I aint good on age, but he should be on ss. Im leaning on no for AR, I hunt in an AR county, and I would have to REALLY look him OVER.

I agree he is past mature. He has a floppy left ear that makes it hard to get an exact ear tip measurement. I am no pro at gauging width, but have heard that juvenile bucks ear tips will be in the 13 range, and a older mature buck will be closer to 15in at ear tips. Again I don't know or I wouldn't be asking. Him being over the hill and at or a tad beyond ear width makes us think he may be legal.

Man I don't know, that first pic, says no to me, too close, for me to pull the trigger. But good luck on which way you choose.

I am going to consult with our local GW. I know I have heard in the past that GW's typically don't give the green light to deer like this just to keep others from thinking it's OK to shoot iffy deer. If he says he thinks it's illegal then we will just let him be coyote bait in a year or so. Thanks for the replies fellas and good luck this season

I would say he looks legal, but then I won't be paying the fine.

You might try putting a 13" piece of tape on the feeder and use that to reference an accurate spread. He's definitely old.

I think he makes it....barely. Big ol head makes spread look smaller. JMO

That's a tough call, but here is something to consider. Legal is 13" and they say rule of thumb is the antlers outside the ears.
Well that is close on that big old buck, he looks to have a Big ole rum head and long ears to boot.

Good chance he is 13" regardless of the proximity of the antlers to the ears

Good luck though, that's a lot of groceries on the hoof

Dude looks to be part brahma bull.

I would say yes on legal and I would shoot him.

I would say legal.

He is wide between the tines, I think he will be near 14" and maybe 6?

How long is that swirl on the feeder? Or the feeder itself?

I love the lazy ear, it makes me

In my experience, native Texas whitetail deer nose to eye measurements range from 6 3/4" to 7 1/2" depending on age and health.

My calculation:
This is a very mature and healthy deer.
Third picture shows a perfect broadside view of his head, it's at least 7" from the end of his nose to the front corner of his eye.
Since the first two pictures have him standing in basically the same location as the third you can use the measurement from above to view the other two pictures.
This puts his insides spread right at 14", i'm gonna guess it will be more like 14.5", maybe 15" since he's such a mature deer.

I personally wouldn't hesitate to harvest him based on these great photos.

....and then send him to a taxidermist that can replicate that floppy ear? Is there one you would recommend?

With that cow head I would say legal. Just for curiosity I measured 4 different mounts on the wall and all were 14 to 15 inches to the outside of the ears, but great idea to ask the GW anyway.

Age and width are the same......13.5

I'd shoot him. I'd say 14". And ripe!!!

That's a 15" deer judging by the first pic. Kinda' sorry to see an old war-horse like him go, but take him.

As old and big as he is, I wouldnt hesitate. As stated above, probably a good 14 spead, maybe a little bigger. JMO

He's 14 or a little more, I'd shoot him all day, and then have him on the grill!

Not sure what the AR rules are.. We Blessed with simple 4 deer county rules... They did put in the 13" rule dont do no good ta complain... Most people dont eat the rack, although thew are nice ta look at... Kids & grand kids gotta put down thar english books & learn dis hera HF if they gonna hunt... my humor not worth As stated before not an expert, the deer is getting close ta age, if not past stage were rack not gonna get any wider, like my tail-end does with age... Here it be a shooter, lot of bucks never get past the basket 13"+ stage, & older a deer gets tougher the meat.. Tis reason for meat tenderizer... i know i was raised in a far off place... As pappy once said: tis a lowfer, deer dont stand around ta judge here, they educated by the big bang therory ... i got cheap posts...

He looks legal to me

That pic with him next to the feeder sure makes him look like a shooter!!

Legal.

We have to remember a deer's ears get bigger with age just like the rest of him. A 2.5 yo bucks ears are generally considered 13 inches, not a 5.5-8.5 yo deer's ears. Those are gonna be wider across.

Thus, if he came out, I would probably be ok shooting him. Now that its too late to shoot him, unless he is hunted on an MLD place, I think we can all agree we would have shot him this year...next year he may decline and be inside 13 inches.