age?

[Bone Seeker]

2 1/2 yrs

[Lawdwaz]

 

2 year old in velvet. Killed and aged that year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theres your 4 year old.

 

 

 

 

Here he is at 6

 

 

Trying to find good pics of a 3 year old for you

 

Nice but not really what I'm talking about.  What I'd like to see is the guy/gal that can look at a buck from a trail cam picture and give me an age, accurately.  

 

Sure, I have trail pics of 2.5 and 3.5 year old bucks I've killed.  No biggie AFTER they are in the pot..............I'm talking prior to the pot.

 

Heck, I've stumped the Region 9 DEC biologists on a couple occasions.   I'm not flaming them, just making the point that it is difficult to come up with an age from a lower jaw let alone a trail cam picture. 

 

As always, YMMV 

 

[TrailsEndTom]

Most likely a 2.5

[TrailsEndTom]

This guy was 4.5 in 2013 and was shot 3 weeks after this pic.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Nice but not really what I'm talking about.  What I'd like to see is the guy/gal that can look at a buck from a trail cam picture and give me an age, accurately.  

 

Sure, I have trail pics of 2.5 and 3.5 year old bucks I've killed.  No biggie AFTER they are in the pot..............I'm talking prior to the pot.

 

Heck, I've stumped the Region 9 DEC biologists on a couple occasions.   I'm not flaming them, just making the point that it is difficult to come up with an age from a lower jaw let alone a trail cam picture. 

 

As always, YMMV 

 

 

I knew that 2.5 was a 2.5 from the trail cam pics before it was killed. I asked the hunter for the jaw bone to see if I was right and I was.

 

I guess Im not following along with what you are looking for.

 

[dbHunterNY]

Nice but not really what I'm talking about.  What I'd like to see is the guy/gal that can look at a buck from a trail cam picture and give me an age, accurately.  

 

Sure, I have trail pics of 2.5 and 3.5 year old bucks I've killed.  No biggie AFTER they are in the pot..............I'm talking prior to the pot.

 

Heck, I've stumped the Region 9 DEC biologists on a couple occasions.   I'm not flaming them, just making the point that it is difficult to come up with an age from a lower jaw let alone a trail cam picture. 

 

As always, YMMV 

 

 

more than likely it's fawn, yearling, 2.5-3.5 (middle aged), or mature 4.5+ you don't get a lot of time to break down the buck as it's walking into your set.  what helps is a crap ton of trail cam photos and history.  then after it's dead you look at the jaw bone and send out the teeth to say hey I was right or hmmm??? 

[dbHunterNY]

EK000195a.jpg

This guy was 4.5 in 2013 and was shot 3 weeks after this pic.

 

looks like it from what little I know.  perfect picture to judge.

[Lawdwaz]

 

 

I guess Im not following along with what you are looking for.

 

 

From my original post on this thread...........

 

"Somebody PLEASE post a picture of a 4 year old buck.  Then toss in a 3 year old.

 

Bet ya' don't have a picture of a 5 year old.........................................."

 

All I'm saying is for someone to give me an age of a buck from a trail camera photo that is a 3yo, 4yo or 5yo.  A yearling buck or a 2 year old are usually no sweat but the older ones people constantly say are 3 or 4 years old bucks (show me those old dudes 5 and up!!) have me pondering how they can tell the age of a buck from a photo when the DEC can't figure an age when they have the jaw bone in hand sometimes?? 

 

It's the yearly guessing game that help eat up bandwidth. 

[grampy]

I like these posts where someone posts a picture of a deer and says, how old is he? I also like to post my GUESS ! I'm no expert by any means whatsoever. And I do know bucks vary greatly in size and antlers throughout NY state. I always hope that the hunter that posts the pic, kills the buck and reposts his actual age. So, just for fun I'll keep posting my GUESS on how old I think that buck is.

[wooly]

From my original post on this thread...........

 

"Somebody PLEASE post a picture of a 4 year old buck.  Then toss in a 3 year old.

 

Bet ya' don't have a picture of a 5 year old.........................................."

 

All I'm saying is for someone to give me an age of a buck from a trail camera photo that is a 3yo, 4yo or 5yo.  A yearling buck or a 2 year old are usually no sweat but the older ones people constantly say are 3 or 4 years old bucks (show me those old dudes 5 and up!!) have me pondering how they can tell the age of a buck from a photo when the DEC can't figure an age when they have the jaw bone in hand sometimes?? 

 

It's the yearly guessing game that help eat up bandwidth. 

 

I'll only guess on bucks that are between 1.5 and 2.5....

I won't even pretend to know anything I don't beyond that unless I got their horns in my hand. (sheds or dead)... and a LOT of in person history with them before that point!

[Lawdwaz]

So, just for fun I'll keep posting my GUESS on how old I think that buck is.

 

Perfect. 

 

Nothing like a little fun. 

[WesternNY]

Somebody PLEASE post a picture of a 4 year old buck.  Then toss in a 3 year old.

 

Bet ya' don't have a picture of a 5 year old...........................................

 

 

Looking forward to the pics!

 

(JHC the DEC can't tell from the damned jaws half the time)

 

 

5 or likely 6 with a dink 1.5 year old. 

[wooly]

 

 

5 or likely 6 with a dink 1.5 year old. 

 

He could be anywhere from 8-12 unless you know for sure otherwise.

Helluva buck, but I'll be damn if I (or anyone else) can age a stud like that accurately based off that pic alone.

[Lawdwaz]

A great example of being fooled by body size is a buck I shot in (IIRC) 2009.  At the camp I hunt out of in Ontario County for a period of better than 50 years, hundreds of bucks have been up and down the meat pole and darn near every single buck that was guessed at 2.5 years or better was weighed.  ONE buck broke 160lbs and that stud went 162.  Dad shot him in the 90's and he stood as the champ for many years until I killed an average looking 8pt with the bow in October of '09.  When I walked up on him I was speechless.  Hard to believe huh?

 

I approached from the rear and saw this..................

 

 

Keep in mind that at the time I was probably 240-250, fresh out of the shower.  I walked around him a few times, stunned.  I was on the cell phone at the time and I told my buddy we were in trouble.......the thing is a moose!

 

The rack was just a decent 8pt but the body was bigger than anything we'd ever shot.  Down the road the guys that I respect as true trophy hunters (local hard working farmers) had killed a couple that went 199lbs but never broke 2 bills.  They couldn't believe it when I called that night and requested a scale that went over 200lbs!

 

Body size doesn't always matter when it comes to age since this beast was only a 3.5 year old, according to the fine folks at the DEC and my own personal observations.  If I had trail cams of this buck and posted them what would he be "guessed" at?

 

 

 

Yes, 217lbs dressed.  I've killed fawns that weren't as big as one of his hams.....

 

3.5 years old. 

 

Since then I've killed some other heavy bucks none have been (as far as I know) older than 3.5.  One I suspect was 4.5 but can't prove it as I'm not going to pay for an aging.  Only a 6pt (heavy horned and fairly wide) but weighed 182lbs IIRC.  Here he is........(the buck on the right)...........

 

 

 

Sincere apologies to those that have seen these pics.

[wooly]

Looking at the second pic, I was going to guess 3.5 but since them DEC dummies said the same, I'll go with 2.5 yo moose!

[wdswtr]

Okay this has been said in several post ex...  here is a 5 with a 4 and a 1 1/2 in the background.

Ummm how is one at 1/2 a year and the others not?   I didnt know deer were born in the fall.

 

I would say Grow its a 2.5 year old buck in your picture. 

[chiefbkt]

2 year old, legs still look long on his frame. Nice buck.

[dbHunterNY]

once a deer is 5.5 yrs old I just say 5.5+ unless maybe there's history.  I think jaw bones are tougher than aging by good and many trail cam photos.  I try to use as much as possible to get the whole picture and not rely on one thing.  many who practice QDM more so than your average deer hunter send in incisors for verification.  you pay the same sending in 1 tooth as you do 6.  we have a few of us to a slip so it's more affordable.  also it's more concrete aging data that we can really use for both herd monitoring and future aging.

[WNY Bowhunter]

I can show you numerous known age 2's and 3's but only a handful of 4+'s...

 

These are all 5+ year old Steuben County bucks based on several years of history with each deer. Only Buck #4 are my personal pics...

 

Buck #1: Killed by  a friend in 2013

 

2013: At least 5.5

 

 

2012: 

 

 

Buck #2: Estimated to be 6 years old here

 

 

Buck #3: Estimated to be 5 years old

 

 

Buck #4:

 

4 years old

 

 

5 years old

 

 

 

Uncle killed him at 6.5

 

Buck #5:

 

2011:

 

 

2013:  I'd estimate 8 years olds based on his sheds..

 

 

 

L to R = 2011 antler, 2012, 2010

 

 

Edited September 4, 2015 by WNY Bowhunter

[WNY Bowhunter]

Sheds L to R = 2011, 2012, 2010

 

Edited September 4, 2015 by WNY Bowhunter

[growalot]

LOL I can see the line of trucks driving towards Stueben County now....

 

Now remember my mentioning how few buck pics were being shown this year?  even though these are old ones....look at all the great pics we have been able to see with just one "age?"