That's a beautiful buck. My guess is 4/5 years of age. The burr looks to be that of a little older deer. I'm guessing 22/23 wide with the ears at 16/17 wide. The color and shape are unique or at least different than I'm used to. In 33 years on the same mountain, I've seen one or two bucks that had that dark chocolate brown color. Always heard that had to do with what they're rubbing there horns on. I've seen bucks taken from the Gig Harbor/Peninsula area that have almost red horns.
As far as that age class becoming the perfect Washington buck. With the Wolves, Cougars and Bears traipsing the landscape in numbers not seen in many many years, the only bucks left are this age class and older. I haven't seen a spike or forked horn on my mountain in 10 plus years. In fact, in the last few years, the only two bucks I've seen were the younger 3x4 and a 4x4 that I took. There's been no sign of an older buck living on the hill for several years now. I know there's still a few around but with the behavioral changes caused by the presence of the Wolves, we're not seeing the sign in the places we used to.
I find myself having to question the decision to pull the trigger every year now. There's always that sense that by squeezing this trigger, I'm probably making an already dire situation worse. Usually the thought of a pan of venison sausage and eggs is enough incentive to get the gun to go boom but still, I'd love to be able to say that this thought of impending doom doesn't rear it's ugly head with every bite but......
