Just for grins, let’s see how good everyone is at guessing the age of my KY buck from Nov. 2019. When I killed this buck I had to check him with the Fort Knox biologist, who checked him over really well, and confirmed his age. Now if I’ve told some of y’all on here how old he was, then don’t blow it for everyone else. So... how old was this buck??

4-5

8

6.5

6-7?

First..very nice buck and congratulations .

second...no one can accurately guess the age of a buck from dead deer and taxidermy pics. All you could say id it prolly is over 2 1/2...maybe.

again, nice deer

As old as he is getting. Lol
Very nice buck btw.

6.5-7.5

I'll guess when I see a jawbone.

Outstanding Wallpaper

What BhamFred said - need full body shot

Great deer Though - better than anything I ever shot - congrats

Need to see on the hoof but he’s got to be 4-5 or older.

Just guessing from the top pic - 6 , at least.

Ok, I know several (Maybe all of you) won’t believe this, but the biologist aged him at 3.5 years old. Seriously. I actually texted with the biologist quite a bit last night about it. Below are a couple of his comments:

1. Yes, I remember it. Aging has nothing to do with antler size. I have aged deer with the state for 11 years before coming here. We aged hundreds of deer per year and most fall in that 2.5 - 3.5 range. Many excellent deer in KY are in that range. It all boils down to genetics, soils, and age.

2. Most deer reach their peak antler growth around 5.5. So, if that deer was 5.5, that’s probably as big as it would ever be. As you pointed out, in 2 more years it could be a B&C deer. Hopefully that makes more sense. We age based on tooth wear. There is a huge difference in tooth wear in a 3.5 versus a 5.5 age class. It’s possible it could be 4.5. But, based on tooth wear we called it 3.5. That means it showed very little tooth wear. Which means you bagged a high quality buck that already passed those great genes on to the next generation. Something to hang your hat on. If you kept the bottom jaw, you can always send it off to have it analyzed for a fee. There are a few labs out west that do it. We send teeth off every year just to compare those results to what we aged in the field. Just another way to stay accurate.


So there it is.... I killed a buck that was 3.5 years old. Maaaaybe 4.5. But for sure no older than that, and a buck that had all the makings of a B&C stud. But he wasn’t gonna get the chance to make it that far... not on my watch!

For further discussion: Here’s a couple of pics of my buck from August 2019 - the biologist was nice enough to share these with me. Fred, Matt, others.... thoughts on his age, based on these pics?

They sure have a hard time getting old. I figured it was just a big young deer. Anybody in alabama would have shot him. I would have shot him twice

In my opinion, from my experience, there’s nothing about that anywhere on it from head to toe that looks 3, here in AL or KY. After aging thousands of jawbones and having discussions with many professionals who’ve done the same, I put very little confidence in toothwear and replacement aging after 3 years of age. Just like genetics determines a deers body mass potential and antler expression, it also determines the wear on teeth. Chewing patterns, soil types and diet also do the same. I wouldn’t call that a 3 year old based off those photos.

Oh, and I’d have no problems calling that deer 5 all day long.

Look at his right g2...aint the same deer 😅

I still say 4-5. I ain’t no biologist by any means but I don’t think that guy knows what he’s talking about. That deer is older.

KY has all their biologists and land managers trained the same way apparently. I’ve been on quota hunts up there and watched them age every deer coming to the station. All 2.5 to 3.5. That’s all they knew how to guess.

A few years back, me and a buddy killed 130”+ deer on a WMA. Both big bodies, but his was huge. The biologist on that place calls every deer that has 130” of antler a “2 or 3 year old”. My buddy sent his off for the cementum method and the results were 7+.

My opinion is they are mostly full of crap. And the deer in the OP of this thread is older than 3.5 by a couple of years.

Looks like the same deer to me. The trick to aging deer is to "guess with authority!". Biologists are like doctors and every other profession, ask 2 and get 2 opinions. Beautiful deer and congratulations!

That's a stud for 3.5. I wouldn't doubt it if the age was right either. I was looking at the face on the top pic and how broud his muzzle / nose is. This does bring up a good question though ...

How does anyone where you hunt let anything grow past 3.5 years ? LOL !!!!

Me too... the photo of the mount where the deer is facing to his left and you can get a good look at the right G2 helps out with the comparison to the deer cam pic. Also, the deer cam pic looks younger than the kill pic.

Of course he looks younger, he was still alive!

Same deer. Same bump on his right brow tine. Different deer? Lol. Based on the live pics, that deer is 4.5 all day everyday and most likely 5.5. He exhibits not one single classic characteristic of a 3 yr old. Jawbone aging based on tooth wear is only a single point of reference which can be and often is greatly skewed by soil and food types. He’s not a 3 yr old. Send the jawbone off.

Definitely the same deer.

HA !!! I guess I'm saying that you could get a better look at his age through that photo. But your sarcasm wasn't wasted on me.. LOL

This i was just kidding from past threads about same or different

I don't for one second believe that deer is 3 1/2

1. even a biologist aging one jawbone without a history of aging deer off that same property is shot in the dark.

2. bucks don't max out at 5, they say this because they rarely see a buck over five. "Most" bucks will add some length and more mass after five. My opinion after years of hands on watching em grow is they max at 7 or 8. I had a buck on my place that had his biggest antlers at age 13.

^^^I've always heard the same thing. Most of the highly managed ranches in Texas will start shooting their trophy deer at 6 or 7 but it wouldnt surprise me that they do/could actually peak later. I think the 6-7 yr old shooting requirements are driven more by the fact that he's spread his genes for a large number of years and every year thereafter, is just a crap shoot as to whether he will be killed fighting, by predation, by age or by disease. They grow them to kill and 6-7 yrs is about as long as they are willing to roll the dice and take that chance of losing them by letting them get that extra year. Nobody that I know in the business of growing big deer claims that a deer maxes out as a 5 yr old. 5 is really the first year that he's expressing his real potential.

Weve had some jawbones aged around here. 100% of the time, they say the deer is younger that we think it is. I had pictures of a particular deer for 5yrs, biologist said he was 3.5. Thats why I said what I did about it being a big young deer. I think a photo log is about the only way to be sure.

Great discussion. It is hard to believe that this buck was only 3.5 years old.

Because he probably wasn’t

Yep^^^

Claims I’ve looked at awbones on the same piece of property for 20+ years now. I took several with me to MSU to have aged right out of HS. The very first thing Dr Steve Demarias said to me was, “I’ll certainly put them into an age category but understand they could be years older or younger than what I tell you”.

I’ve found that to be 100% accurate. It’s very easy to place them into fawn, 1 year old and 2 year old age classes. After that, there are generalities to guide your decision, but there’s also many variables that can change one deers toothwear from the next deer. I’ve aged deer that I knew to be a minimum of 4 years old as 2 year olds according to toothwear before. I had enough years of pictures to rule that age out entirely. So sometimes deer that are 4-5, and perhaps older, age as 2-3 if all you have is a jawbone. That’s why I like to look at trailcam pics as additional info to really narrow down an age.

Still say mature - he looks over 3.5 to me

Was he shot in Alabama? Good deer!

Aging via tooth wear past 3 yo IS NOT accurate in the Southeast.

Regardless of whatever his age was, he’s currently sitting across the den staring a hole through me!

deer is 5

I have seen several bucks that have their largest antlers at 8-10 yrs.

I heard that ! Anyone that'd let that bruiser walk would have to be out of their mind. I'd shoot him if he was 1... LOL

I always heard Deer max out at 7-8 as well.

https://www.realtree.com/deer-hunting/galleries/photo-gallery-from-buttons-to-booner

Ive posted this before but here yall go. Interesting article showing the growth of one bucks antlers by year of age. This is just one deer, in another state, but im sure its similar here. Hope yall enjoy it. I look at it about once a year.

That dude holding the deer is what's old. Sheesh. LOL

Fugly too. 😆

I can’t deny either of these... facts!