How old do you think this deer is? The aging by tooth was surprising to me .... or incorrect.

Low fence deer.

He's either 3.5 or 6.5

3.5

X2

The tooth wear said 6.5. I just found it hard to believe as there were bigger bucks on the property. But he's a beautiful deer. Took him with a bow. Hell look good on the walll. Thanks for your local knowledge.

I hunt in Llano and I woulda guessed 4.5

I thought no older than 3.5

You all maybe right at 3.5. I dont know the credentials of the tooth examiner. Im just glad you arent saying 2.5.

He was a last day buck so was happy to take him home.

nice looking buck!

Where at in the Hill Country?

Mason Texas i believe.

I don't usually argue with the "experts" but I'm not buying 6.5 yrs. Looks more like 3.5-4.5 to me. Nice buck no matter the age.

I hunt a few different places from Mason to Menard. The deer in some of the areas fool us all of the time, they just do not get big. They have a small body structure and never get much of a rack. We shoot 5-8 year old bucks that look like the one pictured above often, usually scoring 100-120. There are the occasional bucks that make 140-150+, but the majority of the bucks are small, regardless of age.
I do not know if it is genetics or vegitation, but we get new hunters are surprised when they shoot 120 pound 6-7 year old that scores 100, when they thought they were thinning out the young 8 pointers.

3.5 if a day.

Best indicator from that photo that he is a mature deer is the blocky head and Roman nose.

2.5

To the OP, good deer! I'm sure it was thrilling to close the door on a good deer....on the last day....with a bow. There is nothing better looking on the wall than a clean 8, IMO. Congrats!

With regard to aging them.....

Unless I have definitive trail camera history, I've quit trying to split hairs between a 3.5, 4.5, blah blah, blah on the places we manage. Sub 130" 8s are a dime a dozen. We have shifted our mindset to immature, mature, and post-mature on most deer, and specifically our 8s.

Based on one picture I would agree with that age. That deer doesn't look any younger than 6 IMO. When the distance is the same or close to between the eyes and the tip of the nose and the eyes and the bottom of the jaw forming a triangle that's a good way to quickly assess a mature deer from a side profile.

One thing that can be misleading on teeth in hill country deer is that when they're in need of mineral, they literally pick up rocks in their mouths and chew on them. I shot a doe once that had damn near zero teeth left they had been worn down so badly and she wasn't old. 4 at most.

Share a picture of the teeth if you have them.

and don't forget to check both side, as one side that might be overly worn and the other side be less

no way this deer is only 3.5, look at the brisket-neck transition. Way too smooth for such a young (3.5) deer. 3.5 yr olds have a 'discontinuity' between the brisket and neck. I can believe 4.5-6.5 yrs old, especially for low fence hill country.

I say not a day over 12. Lol, nice deer

What I can tell you is he ain't getting any older.