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Age...little different than normal #2594777 09/20/11 01:18 AM
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txshntr Offline OP
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I always have issues guessing ages. Everytime I think I am getting a pretty good handle on it, a deer comes along that throws me for a loop.

I have a picture of this deer last year and this year. I am posting this years picture for you to guess. Then tomorrow, I will post last years and, if you will, tell me what the differences are that show the age difference between the two.

For the record, I have been on this place for 17 years and think I have a pretty good idea of the ages, but I still question myself on everyone. Picture isn't the best for aging, but it is all I have to work with.

Here is the 2011 pic. (we call him flash...he has browtines, they just turn straight back)




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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2594789 09/20/11 01:22 AM
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3.5-4


Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2594790 09/20/11 01:23 AM
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Hard to tell from a frontal pic.





Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: quackaholic1] #2594843 09/20/11 01:35 AM
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txshntr Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: quackaholic1
Hard to tell from a frontal pic.


I know. Wish I had a side pic. The one from last year is from the side. Guess anyway?



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2594862 09/20/11 01:40 AM
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3.5 maybe 4.5 Brisket not to large, maybe small sag in the back, not much of a sagging belly. Healthy looking buck. The doe also looks to be in good health.





Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: quackaholic1] #2594890 09/20/11 01:47 AM
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txshntr Offline OP
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Thanks buddy!!! Wish I had a side pic of him. Might be able to get one tomorrow.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: quackaholic1] #2594949 09/20/11 01:58 AM
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My first impression is he is a very old deer from what I can see and appears to be small bodied which tends to hide age more than you realize. He does not have calloused knees like most older deer though.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: stxranchman] #2595290 09/20/11 03:25 AM
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Originally Posted By: stxranchman
My first impression is he is a very old deer from what I can see and appears to be small bodied which tends to hide age more than you realize. He does not have calloused knees like most older deer though.


Sometimes, I think that body size is what throws me off on our deer. Still can't decide with this one though.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2595376 09/20/11 04:08 AM
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Was this buck ever wounded? Looks to have an old wound on his neck.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: stxranchman] #2595390 09/20/11 04:11 AM
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Not that we know of. Last year I didn't notice anything. I think I see what you are talking about, but might be a shadow. I will look at some other photos tomorrow to check.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2595943 09/20/11 02:13 PM
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Not many want to guess so here is last years picture. My guess is 3 1/2 last year and 4 1/2 this year. What throws me off is that if I hadn't seen this deer last year, I would guess him at 3 1/2 again this year. confused2





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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2595998 09/20/11 02:34 PM
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Some deer just do not ever really look their age. You can see them for year after year and know how old they are at a minimum.
I had seen this buck 2 yrs before and then not again till this morning in late Nov. He was at the same blind I had seen him at a couple of years before. I thought he was 3.5-4.5 yrs old back then. It was in the mid 30's this morning I took these photos so with his hair standing up makes him look somewhat older at first glance. I did not remember him at first. He was not any bigger score wise or body wise than he was 2 yrs earlier. I shot him that morning and he teeth where worn to the gumline. So I put him down in the harvest data as 8+ on age and dressed around 115 lb . The last pic convinced me he was old with the calloused knees and larger neck muscling when he turned towards me. Had I not seen him and had trail pics of him from 2 yrs before I would not have known he was older than what he looked.






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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: stxranchman] #2596009 09/20/11 02:39 PM
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Guess I should just consider those the exception and not the rule up

I would guess that deer you posted as older, but that last picture was very telling. I am shocked that he was only 115lbs. Looks bigger than that.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2596022 09/20/11 02:42 PM
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He scored around 114 if I remember right, so that will tell you just how small bodied he was. Just a very small deer for South Texas.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2596037 09/20/11 02:47 PM
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Yeah I think your in the right ball park. I strugle with the same thing on our place as well. I look at deer that I know how old they are because I have pictures every year and have seen them every year, but when the picture turns up the next year I ask my self "if you didnt know how old he is how old do you think he is" really bothers me because those numbers are seldom one in the same, usualy close but not the same.

In my opinion unless you KNOW how old they are it is just getting in the right vacinity up I would go 3.5 last year and 4.5 this year. I like aging rutting buck alot better though, think im better at it then.

matt



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: redchevy] #2596055 09/20/11 02:55 PM
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Originally Posted By: redchevy
Yeah I think your in the right ball park. I strugle with the same thing on our place as well. I look at deer that I know how old they are because I have pictures every year and have seen them every year, but when the picture turns up the next year I ask my self "if you didnt know how old he is how old do you think he is" really bothers me because those numbers are seldom one in the same, usualy close but not the same.

In my opinion unless you KNOW how old they are it is just getting in the right vacinity up I would go 3.5 last year and 4.5 this year. I like aging rutting buck alot better though, think im better at it then.

matt


I completely agree with the rutting buck aging statement. I have a hard time during the summer and early fall, even with the deer that I know how old they are.

There are some deer that I have changed my mind once I see how they act around other deer and not just guessing based on a photo.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2596077 09/20/11 03:03 PM
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Originally Posted By: txshntr
Originally Posted By: redchevy
Yeah I think your in the right ball park. I strugle with the same thing on our place as well. I look at deer that I know how old they are because I have pictures every year and have seen them every year, but when the picture turns up the next year I ask my self "if you didnt know how old he is how old do you think he is" really bothers me because those numbers are seldom one in the same, usualy close but not the same.

In my opinion unless you KNOW how old they are it is just getting in the right vacinity up I would go 3.5 last year and 4.5 this year. I like aging rutting buck alot better though, think im better at it then.

matt


I completely agree with the rutting buck aging statement. I have a hard time during the summer and early fall, even with the deer that I know how old they are.

There are some deer that I have changed my mind once I see how they act around other deer and not just guessing based on a photo.

I like aging in the rut also due to the fact you get to see interaction with other bucks. What might appear to be a younger buck suddenly becomes a dominant buck around the feeder. I have seen bucks that appeared to be younger suddenly run a mature buck off.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2596090 09/20/11 03:05 PM
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This buck was aged by our biologist at 7.5 yoa. I had seen the buck prior to the season (Sept) and thought that he was 3.5-4.5 yoa. He had a very small body.

He ended up scoring in the 140's (12 point) but only weighed 121 lbs. dressed. Sorry, no live pic of him. I was actually kind of perturbed that one of the guys had shot him until the biologist gave his age. I thought he was too young to take.





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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: LandPirate] #2596104 09/20/11 03:08 PM
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Originally Posted By: LandPirate
This buck was aged by our biologist at 7.5 yoa. I had seen the buck prior to the season (Sept) and thought that he was 3.5-4.5 yoa. He had a very small body.

He ended up scoring in the 140's (12 point) but only weighed 121 lbs. dressed. Sorry, no live pic of him. I was actually kind of perturbed that one of the guys had shot him until the biologist gave his age. I thought he was too young to take.



We had the same thing happen at our place. One of the hunters that we had was known for shooting young deer, especially late in the season. I had a ten living at one my stands that we aged at 3 1/2, and possibly 2 1/2. He field dressed at 102 and scored 110. When the guy brought him to camp, we looked at the teeth and there was barely any left.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: stxranchman] #2596110 09/20/11 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Originally Posted By: txshntr
Originally Posted By: redchevy
Yeah I think your in the right ball park. I strugle with the same thing on our place as well. I look at deer that I know how old they are because I have pictures every year and have seen them every year, but when the picture turns up the next year I ask my self "if you didnt know how old he is how old do you think he is" really bothers me because those numbers are seldom one in the same, usualy close but not the same.

In my opinion unless you KNOW how old they are it is just getting in the right vacinity up I would go 3.5 last year and 4.5 this year. I like aging rutting buck alot better though, think im better at it then.

matt


I completely agree with the rutting buck aging statement. I have a hard time during the summer and early fall, even with the deer that I know how old they are.

There are some deer that I have changed my mind once I see how they act around other deer and not just guessing based on a photo.

I like aging in the rut also due to the fact you get to see interaction with other bucks. What might appear to be a younger buck suddenly becomes a dominant buck around the feeder. I have seen bucks that appeared to be younger suddenly run a mature buck off.


Do you think that always means that the dominant one is older? I have seen that too and assumed that he was just more agressive.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2596142 09/20/11 03:16 PM
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Originally Posted By: txshntr
Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Originally Posted By: txshntr
Originally Posted By: redchevy
Yeah I think your in the right ball park. I strugle with the same thing on our place as well. I look at deer that I know how old they are because I have pictures every year and have seen them every year, but when the picture turns up the next year I ask my self "if you didnt know how old he is how old do you think he is" really bothers me because those numbers are seldom one in the same, usualy close but not the same.

In my opinion unless you KNOW how old they are it is just getting in the right vacinity up I would go 3.5 last year and 4.5 this year. I like aging rutting buck alot better though, think im better at it then.

matt


I completely agree with the rutting buck aging statement. I have a hard time during the summer and early fall, even with the deer that I know how old they are.

There are some deer that I have changed my mind once I see how they act around other deer and not just guessing based on a photo.

I like aging in the rut also due to the fact you get to see interaction with other bucks. What might appear to be a younger buck suddenly becomes a dominant buck around the feeder. I have seen bucks that appeared to be younger suddenly run a mature buck off.


Do you think that always means that the dominant one is older? I have seen that too and assumed that he was just more agressive.

Not necessarly. But from what I have seen when shooting cull bucks they always aged older than what they appeared to be until they showed that aggression around what I was sure were mature bucks. I think it does not happend to often since most of the bucks are pretty uniform in body size for their age class on most ranches. Now in very late season and when bucks are run down a middle aged buck can sometimes push an older buck off a doe or a feeder. I have seen this happen a time or 2. Also, all of this would only be for ranches that have a great age structure. If your oldest bucks are only 3-4 yrs old at most then it will be different I am sure.



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: stxranchman] #2596167 09/20/11 03:26 PM
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While I have your attention...I know they are pre-rut and post rut, but have a guess. I was wrong on the first one, but right on the second.

As a side note, the first one would dominate the second one.




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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2596204 09/20/11 03:34 PM
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The first bucks appears to be 4.5 at first glance, but it is early season and he does have some callouses on his knees. The second buck appears to be mature, but hard to judge him from a side shot and with his hair fluffed to keep warm. That makes them always appear much older also. So how far off am I?



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Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: txshntr] #2596208 09/20/11 03:35 PM
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This has been my favorite thread of the early hunting season. Lots of good advice and opinions. Threads like these are what this site is about, good in-depth discussions.


Re: Age...little different than normal [Re: stxranchman] #2596217 09/20/11 03:39 PM
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Originally Posted By: stxranchman
The first bucks appears to be 4.5 at first glance, but it is early season and he does have some callouses on his knees. The second buck appears to be mature, but hard to judge him from a side shot and with his hair fluffed to keep warm. That makes them always appear much older also. So how far off am I?


First buck was aged at 4.5 up and the second one was 6.5, so I would say you nailed it even though you waffled a little rofl I missed the second one though. I saw him in person early in bow season and had him at 4.5.

What gets me the most, and what this post started about, is compare the first deer to the one in my OP. Looking at the age, I would say this deer with the kicker shows much more sign of a mature deer than that one confused2

Any guess at the score of the one with the kicker, just for fun? I know that one. The 8, I didn't score.



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