Sway Backs and Potbellys

An earlier thread got me to thinking.

Over the years, I've found the subject to be confusing when trying to field-judge white-tailed deer. Particularly very old bucks. While both indicators can be additive when aging deer, what may/not disqualify them is stance and time of year. There are far more reliable characteristics in a super-mature buck's body.

Loose skin from the back of jawline to brisket that swings when walking, a noticeably broad area between the nose and eyes, a deer that appears to be all head, neck and shoulders. Hatchet arse. Like us, really old deer don't have enough butt left to hold up their jeans. The body of what appears to be a 2-3 yr old at first glance. They may or may not be very uniformly dark from their hocks to the back of their back hooves.

We'll post a couple photos and videos to help illustrate.

First 4 photos are of a 6 or 7 yr old buck from early October to a couple weeks ago.

Second photo is an 8 year old buck. He dead.

Last photo is a 3 yr old.

Sorry, can't get the videos to load.

Again, note the knees on the 8 yr old vs the 6-7 yr old. My theory is the old deer quit chasing all but the easiest while the stud has blown out his right knee.

Interesting. How much thought do you put into a buck that has zero staining on the hocks as far as post mature?

No staining on the legs at all during the rut means he's past mature and not chasing any longer?

NO SIR. Could be immature, could be Old and could be a puzzy. It's but one of many signs to help age a buck. Very few are absolute.

Great info thanks for sharing.

Running an old folks home down there.