How old are the buck in your area?

[TheHunter]

How old are the buck in your area? Generally I see the average as being 1.5 - 2.5, but it may be getting slightly better now. 

[Fairgame]

up to 3 and a half on the regular.  Any older you would half to get lucky they walk to you, or you have to go to them.

[Doc]

How old are the buck in your area? Generally I see the average as being 1.5 - 2.5, but it may be getting slightly better now.

Probably an honest answer would be, "I really don't know what the average age is of all the deer in our area". But based strictly on only those deer that I see (and only those that stand still long enough to make a judgement), I would have to say that the average is probably 1.5 years old. That stands to reason with a brand new crop of them every year, you probably should expect to see younger deer as an average.

Doc

[deerinsight]

Fairgame,

  If you are seeing deer up to 3 1/2 years old you more then likely have a good age structure in place. If you are seeing mostly 2.5 year old deer and younger each year then the area maybe being hunted to hard, many young deer each year are being taken out or just to much pressure. This is where the Management programs come in to play (AR/ QDM). I may not yet have as many years of hunting and managing as some but my hunting experience or 20-22 years and QDM the last 12 years have showing me this to be true in a lot of cases.

            Just a Note: deer just don't grow when the are put on the ground!

[Lawdwaz]

Killed a fair 8pt last November (2nd day of gun) and it was real big bodied, 173lbs.  Turned out he was 5.5 years old.  Oldest one I've ever killed that I know of.  We age most of the bigger racked bucks and some of the does as well.  Quite a surprise on that one!

[Buckstopshere]

Nice buck! Congrats. Another example showing that you can not determine age by looking at the rack. One would think a buck that old, in any range, would have a much larger, heavier based rack.

Here in southern Allegany County I would say that 85% or so of the bucks are buck fawns and 1.5-year olds, probably 12% are 2.5-year olds, 2% are 3.5-year olds, and the last one percent is 4.5-year olds and older.

[Doc]

It just occurred to me that the answer to this question would vary greatly depending on the time of year. Right after gun season, the percentages would be a lot different than just before season ..... right? That is if there was a reliable and credible way of getting at those numbers. My guess is that very thorough harvest data with a whole lot of in-depth analysis is about the only way that you could even take a stab at figuring that all out.

Doc

[Lawdwaz]

I figured the OP was referring to the age of harvested (dead) deer? 

[Doc]

I figured the OP was referring to the age of harvested (dead) deer?

Even that number would be be pretty hard to come by. Harvest reports do not list age, and personal observations are tough because we're sitting in the woods when most of the deer are being taken home. I'm not even sure that I could even come up with a semi-credible estimate. I just don't get to see that big a percentage of deer (dead or alive). About all I can reasonably say with a little certainty is that one year may have had more or less older deer than another, or perhaps comparisons through observations over many years about changes in age structure stated in a very vague and general way might have some credibility. But actual percentages?? I'll admit, I can't do it. Not over any period of time and certainly not any instant snapshot in time.

Doc

[Buckstopshere]

Good point Doc. My "guess-timation" is just that. It is simply a percentage of what I see (assuming that my judgment of age is somewhere correct.)

[gjs4]

Killed a fair 8pt last November (2nd day of gun) and it was real big bodied, 173lbs.  Turned out he was 5.5 years old.  Oldest one I've ever killed that I know of.  We age most of the bigger racked bucks and some of the does as well.  Quite a surprise on that one!

Hi. How do you know it was 5.5?

[Lawdwaz]

I took the lower jaw into the DEC in Buffalo.

[dszymo]

not to highjack the thread but anyone want to guess the age of this deer?

[Lawdwaz]

Impossible.

[Lawdwaz]

The two bucks pictured here were killed last fall.  The one on the left was killed by a friend and the other is the buck pictured above, killed by me.  Both jaws were taken to the DEC, in Buffalo and aged.  The buck on the left was aged at 2.5 years and mine, as noted above was 5.5 years old.  I do know that sometimes aging deer can be somewhat tricky but the difference in the two jaws is amazing.  I would have NEVER guessed these two at those ages, maybe the other way around.  Interestingly, the buck on the left was approx. 140 lbs and mine 173 lbs. 

Pretty tough to judge these guys on the hoof!

[Lawdwaz]

Pardon the bench clutter ;D

[Buckstopshere]

Great post! Thanks.

[WNYBuckHunter]

not to highjack the thread but anyone want to guess the age of this deer?

3 1/2 would be my guess, but that pic is a horrible angle. Looks like not alot of back sway or tarsal staining. His neck is still pretty slim, especially if the date on that cam is right.

[wellsley]

Most of the bucks shot in my area are 1 1/2 years old. Since 1983 I started taking my bucks to DEC to have aged. I also started weighing my deer as well. Since that time I have shot bucks that weighed  any where from 87lbs to 173lbs and never any older than 2 1/2 years old. I shot a six pointer that dressed 96lbs and was 2 1/2 years old, a 9 pointer that dress 135lbs that was 1 1/2 years old. Ten years ago I decided not to shoot a buck unless I thought it was 2 1/2 years old. I shot 10 bucks and 9 have been 2 1/2 years old. I would have to say that I have not seen a 3 1/2 year old buck during the season and few at other times.

[sweet old bill]

In my area if you can find a buck it is young spike or 4 point at the most.