I've posted a picture of this deer before, just wasn't a great pic. I'm trying to learn and I think he's around 3. What's your input why?

I have a fair understanding of aging a deer but I am trying to get better and more specifically quicker. That being said I would call him 3.5 yrs

That's what I'm thinking also.

Yep, I agree. 3.5, 4.5 max. Still has that younger, more athletic build. His rack is what is misleading. Looks like he should have a little more for his age. Beautiful buck though, either way.

Too much muscle in his front end and hocks are too dark for me to agree with 3.

Really pretty buck, that double white throat patch is very nice.

I would call him either a really fat and muscled 4 yr old or tall and lanky 5 yr old. Face and head looks 5. Hock is stained pretty good and more than a 3 yr old would have even in the rut IMO. Nice looking buck with a double throat patch.

In your opinion will he get any better?

i would go with 4 and see what he does next year, he is very healthy and could make a good jump with enough food.

Define better? How many points does he have since it is hard to tell in that pic? What is a good buck for your area?

Well to give you some info, our second year on 271 acre lease. First year we didn't have time or money to set up all our feeders and things. There is one other 9 point maybe a
little bigger. I'm looking at the future trying to make deer like this more common.

Sorry I forgot, he's a 9 point

How much hunting pressure around you? How many other bucks survived from last year that you know of? I have seen bucks make a big jump that were mature 4-5-6 yr old deer. Normally with good rainfall and forage you can expect around 8-10% jump from one year to the next. Biggest jumps can be from 3-4 or 4-5 or even sometimes 5-6. He does not appear to be a deer that would have a lot of nontypical points to add though.

What about the neighbors, how heavy is the area hunted, do they have a management plan? Lots of "ifs", if you have neighbors that shoot any legal deer, there is no telling if he will be there will be a next year. If your neighbors don't feed and furnish protein, will he get enough from your program?

Trying to deer management a 271 acre place without neighbors being involved is like keeping goats fenced in. Sometimes they are fenced in and sometimes they are running loose.

Deer is older than 3..Nice Buck

The lease owner has 1200 acres to the south, he is managing and feeding. The neighbors on our north don't appear to hunt. We have six stands and six feeders. There are 3 of us on the lease. We are trying to decide what protein we want to use. We did small food plots this year to see how we'll they work.

He's a really nice looking deer with his dark horns and double throat patch.

If you wanted to take him this year I don't think many people would argue. Leaving or killing one buck won't change the genetics in your area.

I just noticed the double throat patch. Pretty buck right there.

Mature deer, 5.5 is my thought. Testicles are large, tarsal glands are already dark, and body shape indicate a mature deer. Beautiful animal.

Thank you all, what are the first things you look for while aging?

It's all in the body. Same principles that apply to humans for the most part. Muscle development and gravity do there thing.

But honestly, you just have to look at a bunch of deer over a period of time to start getting a feel. I still get confused at times.

But it's not important to be exact on age, just put them in categories of young (1-2), mature (3-5), and old (6+). And while your on your way to becoming an aging expert, do your culling in the 3-5 age range.

Looks 3.5

Shape is the first thing I look for, mature deer just have a different look.

Muscle structure, head/face, knees, sitting back on their hooves?, and tarsel glands. All have a part to play.

All that is relative to deer in your region though. There's not a clear cut method in a state as diverse as Texas.

Also, different times of year will give their bodies different appearances. But for the most part, I look at it in simple terms like this; by 3 they look like a college athlete. By 5, a seasoned professional. 6+, a retired veteran....and gradually you can tell that they've just been watching games on TV and eating corn all day as time goes by...

You have to look at the whole deer. Face features, forehead shape/color, how wide the forehead is, jawline skin tone, ears, neck, brisket, shoulders, legs, girth at the shoulder, bellyline, top of back, rump area on the back, hindquarters, hock staining, coloration of hair on head/feet/hooves, and overall shape of the body mass. How his body looks in proportion to leg length. Does the buck look young like a doe body with antlers, does he look more muscled but still tall and lanky, does the buck look much more muscled and toned with shorter legs, or does he look really thick and heavy bodied with very short stumpy looking legs. How does he walk, normal gate or plodding steps that are deliberate. These are a few things I look at in a matter of a seconds on a deer when it steps out.

Thanks for all the tips guys.

There are some smart phone apps out there that are really helpful in learning to age deer.