Found two identical poses from this buck from this year and last year. I know how old he is (he’s been blind in that left eye since he was an 1yr old) and I know which pic belongs to which year. Both are from mid September of their respective year.

So:

How old is he on the left and is that this year or last?
How old on the right and is that this year or last?
Bonus: Are we shooting him this year?

Looks 6+ on left pic, this year and 5+ on right pic, last year and yes, someone is shooting him this year.

5.5 on the left and 4.5 on the right. Yes, shooting him, but as a cull

You know lm feeling a trick question coming, and with the key learning being that looks can be deceiving. I just noticed there is grass in the background from the pic on the left and none on the pic on the right. Pic on right looks to be more in line with this years drought

Same guess from me.

5.5 on the left and 4.5 on the right. Yes, shooting him, but as a cull.

Same guess from me.

3.5 on the right, 4.5 on the left. Not shooting him

Sounds right

My first thoughts as well...assuming similar late August rains AND early acorn crops that we got in both Williamson and Stephens Counties. We had deer put on a bunch of weight in a very short period of time WITHOUT any additional horn growth and looked a year older due to the extra weight if one didn't pay close attention.

Can't tell if he is a shooter without knowing more about your other deer and management goals (and your neighbors affinity to shoot). I certainly wouldn't shoot him...he is fatter than he is old. Another year of age and hopefully better horn growing rains next year might put another 20+ inches on him.

I agree on the ages. He's mature & probably as good as he'll get. Perhaps more mass in one more year.

I agree with Perfect 8..3.5 on the right and 4.5 on the left..I would not take him until he reached 6.5 as he could look different. I have seen bucks do that very thing. He shaped up from last year..just think what he could if ya give him two years ...then decide. However, if you have a lot of mature bucks better than this guy then I might give it a thought.

Lot of factors play into the answers but I'll take a stab. In red below...

How old is he on the left and is that this year or last? 4.5 this year
How old on the right and is that this year or last? 3.5 last year
Bonus: Are we shooting him this year? Not if you have a management plan in place and neighbors are cooperative OR not close by.

Questions:
- How many acres is this guy on?
- Do you keep protein in that feeder year 'round or sporadically through the year? Corn or corn mix as well? Year 'round?

A couple of answers that have a correct age but not for both pics, grabbing dinner and will give the answer once I’m back.

In the meantime i’ll provide some additional context:

The ranch is ~2000 acres, low fence.
Protein feed is year round, corn is August-February
We believe this guy lives entirely within our own borders so neighbors should not come into play
This year, he is on the lower to middle end of his respective age class, score wise

5.5 last year, left, 6.5 this year, right. Shoot him.

Alright answer time!

For those wondering the left picture is last year and this guy was a 4.5yr old. The right picture is him this year at 5.5. You can really tell the drought had an impact on him (and many other of our deer) from a body size perspective, despite year round feeding and drought conditions not being as bad as they are in other parts of the state. Antler affects were varied across the ranch but most of the 5.5+ age class was net neutral to slightly worse this year.

If we are going to shoot him: I am not planning to hunt this deer and will not shoot him if I see him. There are older, lower scoring management deer on the ranch that I’m going after. My dad and any guests likely will shoot him if they see him and that’s fine, bucks are fair game at 5.5 unless we think they are really special and live entirely within our own borders. He’s been trading g2 kickers and a bump of a g4 for three years now and I don’t believe a neighbor will shoot him. Will he ever grow both those kickers and that g4? Likely not. Will he survive past this year? Who knows. But another year of history and the potential of a more interesting rack is enough to make me say I’ll go after him next year.

Same here based on just these two pics

Wow
I could've lost some money on that one. lol

Got to watch him the other night for about an hour. Lots of fun watching old guys. Got a great pic from the cam and you can tell what the recent rains and rut can do to make a buck put on weight.

The hock staining, knees and angles neck line… he old. 6+

Now seeing this is an old post with age given at 5? How do you know he is 5?

Can’t see in daylight but has been blind in his left eye since he was a 1.5yr old. He also has residual fawn spots down his back, so both have been helpful identification tools through the years.

I love catching up on these aging posts. I scrolled up to start so I could make my guess without getting swayed one way or the other. I definitely saw the pic on the right as the more recent based on the mass of the antlers (even though they didn't look as tall which I associated with the drought issues). Sounds like I was off on the age by a year as I thought it was 6.5 this year and 5.5 last year. The body size definitely shows how the drought has made things a little confusing on aging this year. Based on my guess of 6.5, I would have said shooter (not knowing about the property and the management standards). At 5.5, I could see waiting if you've known that he's a lifetime local.

This pic sure makes him look older than 5.5! WOW

It’s crazy how different poses and times of the year can make a deer look different. It’s why history and lots of pics throughout the year are always the best bet of being certain

X2
Very hard to age. History and lots of pics is the best chance.

Aging is for sure difficult. I have to admit we have had a few that we had similar history with that we missed the initial age estimate on after sending teeth off. Of course some say that isn’t accurate either.