Would you shoot?

I do not have ARs.
I have never been a fan of narrow racks, but this guy is impressive.
What kind of score would something like this have? Will another year help with spread?

Upper 130's. He has a lot of good tines, just not super long tines. If it rains next year he could be better, since he will be one year older. I would pass if I knew the hunting pressure around me.

Might gain mass and length...doubt he will get much wider....

That surprises me being a 12 with such a low score, I thought he had more mass.

Don't think he'll ever be wide buck but he does one nice tight rack. He might is 13-14" inches next year.

Is this the same deer?

His frame(mainbeams, mass and spread) keep his score down a bit. He is not that old and lot of things can happen in the right year rainfall wise. Gaining spread will depend on his genetics, I have had a buck go from around 12" to 14.25" in 2 yrs. He also gained about 25 inches in score in those 2 yrs. He did not have the frame either, just really good tine length. Tine length is 40% more or less of the final score.

Nice buck. I'd pass as he looks to be 3.5 to me. Another year or two, could see him gain a lot of tine length and maybe some more stickers. He'd probably gain some spread too, but he's always going to have a narrow looking rack. If he already scores in the upper 130's, he could be a real stud if he's allowed to reach maturity.

What is the time frame of the pics. The older buck has the double white throat patch.

last year on left (Winter)
this year right (last week)
I saw the spike last year, he is not that young

Unless you know how to add 5 yrs to a buck in one year then no, they are not the same deer. Double white throat patch is not on the younger buck. The buck from this years pic is post mature IMO. Wait till you get pics of him middle of next month and he will really show his age.

I don't think that is the same deer. That's a lot of antler growth in 1 year, and I don't see the double throat patch on the spike. The top spike looks younger than the bottom spike to me (the 2nd one has his hair fluffed up which makes him look bigger, but the shape of his head is much more blocky than the top spike).

I was looking at the damaged left eye. I missed the double throat patch

Also when aging deer when it is very cold temps or when they are displaying around other bucks, they will appear to be older than they are. They will stand the hair up or fluff up to makes themselves better insulated or to appear bigger/older than they really are.

Same deer, the pics are about a min apart.
He is not that young of a deer, He busted me last year about 20 min before my trophy 10 came out on the same trail. He is old and wise, but had some issues last year.

Glad I threw it out here, I thought this guy was older than 3.5 and higher than 130.

I still would call him a 5 yr old from that last pic with a couple of good years of antler growing left in him. You can compare ear length to tine length in that pic as a reference. If you know the average ear length of a mature buck that will help you out on tine length.

I will prolly let him stroll on by. The older buck needs a nap, but he is not high on my list either. He will make a nice cull for one of our younger hunters.

Do you have any pics from the past seasons of the older buck? Being a typical 7 point on the oneside is rare. Don't think the odd looking other side would be genetics based off of his one good side.