Age this deer

[400out]

I am having a heck of a time trying to figure out the approx. age of this buck  any of you experts got a idea? I have looked a different angles but just can't do it!I will look and see if I have anymore shots with different angles  His face just looks young to me 

[bobcat]

Gotta be at least 4 1/2 is all I can say.

[400out]

I was think the same but the lack of any roman nose just has me confused 

[woodywsu]

3.5 based on face. Good genetics there.

[bobcat]

If he's only 3 1/2, that's really good genetics and/or feed.   

[jackmaster]

3.5 to 4.5 and it looks as if they have great minerals and genetics, care to give up your spot  j/k i could not give up on the blackies even for a weekend 

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

I can have the teeth aged if you know what i mean!

[Kowsrule30]

Big body but the pics of the face are deceiving... I think he's 4 1/2...

[Mudman]

6.

[Spuddieselwwu]

5.

[bobcat]

When you say 5 or 6, are you rounding up, or down?

[Kowsrule30]

When you say 5 or 6, are you rounding up, or down?

Maybe they're saying he was a very late fawn...       

[jackelope]

Read one of the posts Doublelung made recently regarding aging a deer on the hoof. I'll see if I can find it.

[Curly]

That rack makes his body look small. 

[jackelope]

Here you go.. Hope he doesn't mind me plagiarizing him.

I have had the privilege of collecting hundreds of samples of teeth from harvested bucks, estimated their ages and then had the teeth lab aged.  Even within a local population, the variation is tremendous, and ages are very difficult to estimate based on the appearance of the deer.  I have seen small-bodied bucks with forked horns less than 8" long, that any game bio would call yearlings, but which when field checked had 50% tooth wear and came back as 4-6 year olds.  I've seen big, stout hog-bodied, sway-backed thick-antlered bucks, that I'd have classed as dominant 6.5-9.5 year olds; but with sharp pointy teeth come back as 3 year olds, including a 29" outside spread 5x5 whitetail and 30"+ mule deer.

When I can look at their teeth in hand, 90% of the time I am able to guess age within +/-1 year.  Without looking at the teeth, just field-dressed carcass and antlers, I'd say I'm 90%+ on 1.5 and 2.5; for buck deer 3.5 - 4.5, maybe 70%; over 4.5, I'm lucky to be 50%. 

The oldest hunter-harvested buck I've seen from WA was a 13.5 y.o. buck killed in the Swakane late archery.  He was a slick 4 point with average mass, about 20-22" outside spread, no trash, a slender face and a straight back.  Without a look at his teeth, I'd have confidently called him a 3.5 year old. Based on his worn out teeth, I estimated him at 12+, which the tooth aging validated.

I've known enough bucks that were notable and showed up on the same winter ranges for 7-9 years, to believe that trophy bucks are big early in life.  I've only killed 2 bucks that gave me a twinge that I might have killed a great buck before it reached its potential: a 2.5 year old, 22" 4x4 with eyeguards that scored 145, and a 4.5 year old, 31" 4x5 with eyeguards. 

Guessing ages on game animals is fun, but without the teeth I maintain it is a game.  The bear I killed in September was a humbling classic: a game warden, a game biologist and an extremely experienced successful hunter all estimated him as a 2 year old boar; when he hit the dirt, "he" immediately became a 20+ year old sow (exact tooth age pending).

[Seabass]

I love it!

[400out]

  so Jack your telling me to kill him them we'll worry about age   

Thanks for the post it was good reading 

[BLUEBULLS]

so Jack your telling me to kill him them we'll worry about age   

Thanks for the post it was good reading 

and i'll go with you so we can get an age on his cool looking buddy too!

[jackelope]

so Jack your telling me to kill him them we'll worry about age   

Thanks for the post it was good reading 

That's what I'm getting at.