Having watched via trail-cam hundreds and hundreds of TN bucks "grow up," what I've noticed about watching bucks over their lifespan is 1) Big mature bucks usually start as big younger bucks. In that, I mean most big mature bucks were well above average bucks when they were 2 1/2. Now that's not always the case but is true in the majority of cases. 2) The few "average" middle-aged bucks that suddenly explode at maturity are unpredictable. You can't look at them and say, "Yeah, he's going to be the one." 3) Only very, very rarely do very low-end middle-aged bucks turn into something great at maturity. If they have a crap rack at 2 1/2 or 3 1/2, odds are very, VERY high they will have a crap rack at maturity.