Age and Score (#13)- 2 year progression

I figured out how to post pics the other day and posted 12 threads in a short period of time and probably saturated the market. I got dozens more I can post if not 100 but I guess ill spread them out over some time. I dont want to bump other threads especially if they are time sensitive. All mine this time of year will be from years past so just intended for educational purposes and entertainment. Theres no shoot/no shoot decisions based on your estimates.
I posted a lot of pics of this bucks(8 from 2018 and 8 from 2019). May not of needed that many pics but he is real interesting for several reasons. We are not 100% sure hes same deer so curious what yall think. He grew a ton of antler in one year. We are real unsure of his age and his teeth are at the lab now. I have the full score sheet I can post later. Me, another official TBGA scorer and an official BC scorer all scored him within 2" of each other. For reference, we are in NW Tx and our mature bucks field dress about 140 to 150. We had above average antler growth last year based on rain and conditions. We dont feed protein.

2018 8 pics. The first is hard antler 3 weeks before rut. The rest are same day in late velvet.








Looks like ive got to start a new post to get the 8 pics from 2019 in so hold your horses, it may take a few minutes

2019 pics--8 live and one dead. All taken same day about 7 weeks prior rut. Good rain and conditions during antler growth then got real dry. We do not feed protein. Hint--the downturned beam is just that and not a drop tine. Clean Typ 12.
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Sweet Buck

I would say on the kill pic he has 70-72 on tines and 95 or so on down frame....165 to 167. In some pics he looks 5 and in others more of a 7 yr old. So I will go 7 on age. My kind of buck. Lot of long tines and narrower on spread. Did he score as a 6x6 for 5x6 with a drop? I would call him a 6x6 based off that one kill pic.

6x6. What did you think of the pics the year before-2018.

I am around 158 on the score, but could be off a few inches or so.

Age has me stumped a little. 2018 pics he looks younger, and given the good range conditions I would say 3-4, so that would put him 4-5 in 19. Given his jump in antler I would say he was prob 5 when he was shot. Some postures he looks older and some younger. I don’t see 7 in that deer, but who am I to argue with the master....

For age he looks to be mature in some of those pics with large round stained hocks for late August. He is just tall and lanky which makes him look younger but in several pics he does look older.The one thing that makes him look younger is the really black nose/face. Some bucks in late summer are just difficult to age without history. He looks to be crab clawed 5x5 in those pics and has the frame of an upper 130's to low 140's 10 point with good 2's and 3's. Looks like around 50 to 52" of tine length and a guess of 88-90 on down frame more or less. I think he is just a tall and lanky buck that never really showed his age like the rest of his age class. Those type bucks never look their age till they are laying on the ground in front of you.

Awesome buck, and that doe is about the lightest color I have ever seen on a deer. He must have had a thing for blondes.

As far as age, I kind of agree with Buckeye based on pics. He doesn't have much of a thick brisket and not much sway in the back....I'd say 4.5 in 2018 and 5.5 in 2019, but I'm sure STX is right. He's long legged and lanky with an athletic body which makes it difficult, but his antlers say he's older than I think.

I noticed that light color doe as well right away.

Man this deer looks 3.5 in most of those pics of him in 2018 and 4.5 in most of them in 2019.
Even his face to me looks younger in those 2019 pics! lol

I'd give him this from these pics

94-96" on frame
70-72" tines

164-168

Beautiful buck with great character with the drop on the end of his beam!!

A little added info. We ran these pictures by a whole lot of folks and some are very experienced. NO ONE had him as old as STx said. I say that with all due respect to STx and I am questioning my own estimate based on what he said. I only mention this cause i dont want a bunch of yall to get on the STx bandwagon on this buck unless you really believe it. In other words, if you guess lower and even much lower you will not be alone and in fact you will be with the majority. This is not a known age deer so any estimates will neither be right or wrong.

~160
5.5, 50%
6.5, 40%
Other, 10%

4 year old and 175"

The interesting thing for me, in the pics, is the difference in size. In the trophy pic he looks MUCH bigger, like 15-20" bigger.

Ive actually never thought about what he looks like he scores by looking at the dead deer/field photo because I already knew what he scored. I will say that we take a lot of time and effort into our dead deer pics in an attempt to have them aesthetically appealing but MOSTLY we want the pic to represent what the rack actually looks like in person. We try to pick the angle that shows all the points and represents their actual lengths. Its part of our record keeping system and potentially a way to market any potential openings we occasionally have. We dont want the hunter to be way behind the horns or the deers body to be way behind the horns. Either one of those things is like the guys that hold the fish way out in front and you have NO IDEA how big it actually is. If you will look at the pic the deers body and the hunter are the same distance from the camera as the rack is. For reference the hunter is about 5'10" and 175 and the deer field dressed(135) less than our average buck. He was killed prior to rut and was rolling fat. All this is just fyi for yall still playing along and wanting to age/score.
I would still like more of yall to age/score him the year before and tell me if you even think its the same deer. We on the lease all think its same deer but not postive. If it is he put on the most growth that we have ever seen and you might take that into consideration on his age estimate.

155-160 is what I get. 4.5 years old.

The rack is extraordinarily similar, I would lean towards it being the same deer but I agree, he grew a TON for a one-year jump. Any chance the 2018 pics are off a year on the camera?

What I meant by the size is that the tine length and even a bit of the mass washed out on the game-cam pics. I would have guessed the cam pics in the upper 140-low 150 range, while the posed pic shows those aspects much better and suggests at least 10 more inches.

Gotcha. None of the game cam pics were real closeups so that hurt for sure. The posed pics give the best look at score for sure and then its nice to have the live pics for some perspective compared to body size etc. Definite 2018 and 2019. We post all our pics to the whole group and discuss if old enough or not. He was discussed a good bit in 2018 and a whole lot in 2019.

When you gonna post the score and the group’s age estimate FR?

Leaving me hanging too long

Yeah I’m with the 160ish crowd and 5yo but as Stx stated...he may be 7. If so that deer blew up like an IED...quite amazing if it’s all solid. I’m not good with pics as I’ve stated. But show me one on the hoof and I can get close, real close on age and score. Deer just look real different to me in pics. Jus me I reckon

In the 2nd photo provided, he appears to be running around with two dinks. I do not often see older, mature bucks running around with teenagers. They might meet up somewhere, but seldom travel together. Giving him a full hundred for the under, I have roughed him at 163. Dead photo shows more age in the face than the live ones and I am going out on a limb to say 5 1/2.

Hud, as for the yearlings in the photo with him keep in mind that was Aug 18. Also, he was the one under the feeder and a couple pics he could of been walking them away. Very good point though and the kind of comments that we all can learn from and why I think these threads have so much value.
majekman, no doubt its much better to see the deer live instead of pics but its hard for alot to get that much practive on live and when you do see one live you dont always have alot of time so its good to of gotten a preview off pics.

It hasnt quite been 3 full days yet. I dont know if the weekend guys might post more guesses. Once I give results im sure comments will stop/slow. I just think hes real interesting given the big jump in antlers and the uncertainty of being the same deer. And his age definitely had us all scratching our heads. Ill give it till later today at least.

Hmm, cryptic. That implies he’s either really old or really young. Looking forward to the results, freerange!

RESULTS--
Score--Score sheet included shows 166 by official TBGA scorer and an official BC scored him right at 167. Gross as always. Bottom 93 Top 74. Beams average about 21 which I would consider short for a 167.
Age--No ear tags or any captive deer anywhere near our place so IMO age is always an unknown. All our teeth are sent to a Lab yearly but we wont get them back for awhile. Even lab results I dont feel are alot better than 70 to 80% and some will say 90 and others less. I feel aging from molar tooth wear is much less accurate than that. To estimate age on our lease all our guys study game cam pics and talk about it and usually get a consensus. Then we look at the dead deer and get anything we can from looking at his body and weight etc. Then tooth wear. Most of our guys thought he was 4 or 5 before the kill and most thought 5 after although the jaw looked more like 6. I had several very experienced friends that thought 4 from the game cam pics. All things considered I personally would of called him 5 till STx chimed in with his 7. Thats as good as I got on his age but ill leave you with what STx said--"the more we hunt and manage deer, the more we learn how much we dont know."
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Ok I am ok with that. I am in the ballpark. I just wanna be in the ballpark.

Most were in the ballpark and thats about all most should expect. Ive messed around with field scoring a bunch and Ive always thought that even someone that is really good at it can never be expected to get closer than 5" either way on average. An average guy then 10" either way isnt bad. Before he was killed I passed the pics around alot and most guys that I know to be good had him from 160 to 175.
Ill probably post another one in a day or so if yall arent tired of em.

Great stuff freerange! Post another!!!!!!

If you are tired of this you need to find another forum.
lmao

On a different subject, are those hog panels on the ground under the feeder?

Yes, its to keep the hogs from rooting out a big hole that fills with water. Some of the guys swear by them so we tried it recently. It serves the purpose but they need to be tied down better than we have done. I have been scared to death that a deer would get a foot hung up but guys say it wont happen. Even if it just happened once to the wrong deer it wouldnt be worth it. I would be curious what yall think.

that kill pic is a gorgeous buck

Scary, thinking that one could get hung up or injured.

I have never done that and I have had plenty of hog action. My current set up is feeders without pens. I have occasional pig swarms, but they don’t tear up the ground. Having said that, I am sure they prefer my browse to dirt anyway, so I rarely see any ground damage from hogs period.

I have seen folks that bury panels so the hogs can’t root too deep, but I too would be worried about having panels above ground without something holding them down to ground. There’s always pointy parts on those panels and if it made a boss buck shy away, that would be a no-go for me too.

My thoughts is if the hogs are bad enough to cause damage to the ground under a feeder, you aren’t doing your job keeping them away good enough. Fence works, but so does lead poisoning.

I would guess about 166.