Age guess?

Curious to see what y’all think of the age on this fella:

tough pics to judge by

either 2 or 3......leaning to 3

When I first looked I said 5 yr old and he looks really old in some instances. His body shape is more of a 3-4 yr old though but head shape and tarsal gland show older. From those pics that is a tough one to age.

He looks about 4 to me.

He looks older to me 5+

I am thinking this also. How is has the range conditions been in your area. If they were hurting for nutritious food and not getting supplemental feed, this maybe why they look so poor and that will throw off the age look.

4

Central TX. Lots of rain this year. Everything was growing all year, super green! And this is the only pic I have of him for now. My first thought was post mature but i can’t fully convince myself of that, especially based on the one pic.

I have never seen a 3-4 year old buck with a face/head like that - I am guessing he is post mature and on the decline body wise -

Same for me and that is why I stated body shape is more inline with 3-4 yr old while the head shape and tarsal gland show older. With that buck in stride in both pics he is stretched out more making him look leaner. My guess is like yours is that he is older. Not all post mature bucks decline in body size or shape though. He does not have the gray face of an older buck and the inside of his ears is not totally white but rather still has some black hair outline...that is more of what you see on mature or less age bucks in many areas. I am not one to use the wrinkles between the ear and eye but he has none showing in those pics. Doesn't mean much to me but to some they would say his is younger. More pics of him standing broadside or just still would help a lot. This is a difficult buck to guess an age on from these 2 pics. There are aging characteristics I look for on hill country deer that I would not use on deer in other areas that I would use on this buck. Most of those would lead me to believe his mature at a minimum and most likely post mature. If so then he was a buck that was never the same body size as the rest of his age class nor had big antlers. His body and antlers made him look younger at first glance. AR's kept him alive this long.

bet he needs implants, missing teeth

and a walker along with long term care insurance! Needs to be in a nursing home for sure

No AR for us, but this is the first I’ve ever seen him. He’s on the list whether he turns out to be 3.5 - 7.5. We pull teeth and will get back with pics if someone gets him.

Good decision for sure