Age & Score of this buck?

[sampotter]

Ok- I'm finally looking at these pictures on a computer for the 1st time instead of my phone. I am still confident that this deer is 4+. Specific features like a saggy belly, loose skin, etc, can be used as an indication but every deer is different. I look at this boy and I know I would shoot him believing him to have reached 4 years of age and at least 90% of his antler potential.

 

With his ears back the next best point of reference is the distance between the burrs, which is usually about 2.5”. Also- I never go by net score- I know this is what most of the “books” use but I personally think the ideal of the “perfect typical” shortchanges the magnitude of a lot of bucks and really doesn’t tell the whole story.

 

Anyhow, after further review I downgrade my (gross) score from 155+ to low 150s. Here is what I have:

 

G1s: 7

 

G2s: 16.5

 

G3s: 21

 

G4s: 12

 

MBs: 46

 

Mass: 32

 

Spread: 17

[WNY Bowhunter]

I'll go with low 150's gross.  He's at least 4.5 and more likely 5.5 years old.  A heck of a WNY buck!!!

 

Edited January 6, 2014 by WNY Bowhunter

[NYBuckHunter27]

thanks for the feedback guys. we were also thinking 150s also.

[G-Man]

You need to look at a lot of deer and know the characteristics of your specfic area , a 3.5 year old from ag county is much different from one in big woods, or mountain areas.. thus the many guesses on age imo...

[sampotter]

You need to look at a lot of deer and know the characteristics of your specfic area , a 3.5 year old from ag county is much different from one in big woods, or mountain areas.. thus the many guesses on age imo...

 

Also if your field aging training videos were produced by Drury Outdoors or the like you may have a skewed perspective.

[NYBuckHunter27]

well theirs defiantly some guys opinions on here who i value more than others..

[Meat Manager]

Sounded like reeltime was coming right out of a qdm on-the-hoof manual and that was the most detailed and educated guess IMO.

I thought the 3rd pic was slightly quartering and you could make out a good sag in the belly which led me to lean 4.5...but everything reeltime said was grounded in relative body feature assessment, rather than guessing at actual measurements with no scale reference like the majority.

I say really nice NY10...142-145...ofcourse gonna have to get him down to tape him.

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Edited January 7, 2014 by Meat Manager

[reeltime]

By nasal hump you mean roman nose? Not all mature bucks will have a roman nose; some do...some don't.

 

Don't forget too, that features can be dramatically different based on post-rut body condition. I'm sure he's in a high ag area, but he could be down some serious bodyweight at the moment.

 

yes the roman nose, true not all mature bucks will develope the classic roman nose. generally though truely mature bucks will have a wider snout and the snout will appear stubbier because the actual skull is larger.  another characteristic is the imaginary line from the base of the ear to the nose where the corner of the eye lines up, normally on bucks 3.5 years of age and younger that line is pretty close, on 4.5 and up is whenyou start seeing a noticable change in skull characteristics.  granted with frontal pictures its hard to see the "line" 

 

I was basing my thoughts on what I could see in the pictures, again to me his face looks slender, and while the body can change dramatically from pre to post rut generally facial features don't change as much since there is very little fat on the skull.

 

 

hopefully the op gets his hands on the sheds or the actual deer would be interesting to get an age on him.  no doubt he's a nice buck. 

[nyantler]

 rather than guessing at actual measurements with no scale reference like the majority.

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Actually you can use the ears for a reference... a deer's ear cup is right around 6" and works quite well... you're right about not knowing exactly without putting a tape on him but getting in the ballpark isn't that hard.

[nycredneck]

He would score as my biggest buck ever, and a deer of a lifetime for me. OK mid150's and about 4 perhaps 5 yrs old.