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2 1/2 or 3 1/2?

tree_ghost":3159u7wd said:
3rd pic says 3.5yo to me....nice deer!
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Agree.
I was torn between 2 1/2 & 3 1/2 anyway.

Having seen several deer that "looked" (on the hoof) to be 3 1/2 or 4 1/2, but post-mortem aged at 2 1/2 or 3 1/2, I've tried not to place too much credit on a single pic or two of a particular buck. Very well fed bucks will commonly "look" a year older than their actual age. Just seeing a pic of a buck tells us nothing about what that buck has been eating.
 
chebuck":1py1eeh8 said:
I couldn't believe how much he blowed up in a year.
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Just the "norm" for both yearling to 2 1/2, and from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 :)
Typically not so much change going from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2, except for typically an increase in mass (diameter of antlers, including each tine).

But he'll still likely be much more "impressive" next year should he survive this year. :)
Imagine each tine being a tiny tad longer, and noticeably tad bigger around,
and of course those main beams' diameter noticeably bigger around.

Sometimes, but not typically, a 3 1/2 can be smaller as a 4 1/2, mainly under conditions of poor forage and high stress.
 
TheLBLman":3ohq3t0f said:
tree_ghost":3ohq3t0f said:
3rd pic says 3.5yo to me....nice deer!
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Agree.
I was torn between 2 1/2 & 3 1/2 anyway.

Having seen several deer that "looked" (on the hoof) to be 3 1/2 or 4 1/2, but post-mortem aged at 2 1/2 or 3 1/2, I've tried not to place too much credit on a single pic or two of a particular buck. Very well fed bucks will commonly "look" a year older than their actual age. Just seeing a pic of a buck tells us nothing about what that buck has been eating.
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I was on the fence as well in the first two pictures. Had he not shown the 3rd picture I would have aged that deer at 2.5 based on the info provided.


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tree_ghost":1qh2tna1 said:
I was on the fence as well in the first two pictures. Had he not shown the 3rd picture I would have aged that deer at 2.5 based on the info provided.
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We may be thinking somewhat alike, as hunter/managers. :)
Most would be much quicker to call that buck 3 1/2 or older, or simply "old enough".

I've killed several bucks that I really thought were a year older than they turned out to be, so I now may have a tendency to guess on the younger side, just to make it a tad easier to give those bucks a pass.

In times past I've killed several 2 1/2's that really "looked" like 3 1/2's, two of which were P&Y bucks that truly had potential to become absolute monsters, had I only let them walk. Finally decided to focus on 4 1/2 & older, so at least if there's a mistake, it's at least a 3 1/2. Believe it or not, I enjoy letting them walk more than killing them, as the real excitement becomes what they may become, rather than any concern of maybe going "buckless" for a year or two. At least that's how I roll until I believe they're 4 1/2.

And if someone else kills one I passed up, great, they simply needed to kill it more than I. My rule of thumb has always been half what I pass won't survive the season, but half will. None I kill survive the season.
 
In times past I've killed several 2 1/2's that really "looked" like 3 1/2's, two of which were P&Y bucks that truly had potential to become absolute monsters, had I only let them walk. Finally decided to focus on 4 1/2 & older, so at least if there's a mistake, it's at least a 3 1/2. Believe it or not, I enjoy letting them walk more than killing them, as the real excitement becomes what they may become, rather than any concern of maybe going "buckless" for a year or two. At least that's how I roll until I believe they're 4 1/2.

This was my thinking exactly.

A little background on this buck last year I saw him several times and had problems ageing him. Body wise he was smaller than the rest of the 2 year olds on the farm and looked much more like the yearlings but sported 8 points and these super long tines. And even in to this summer I believed him only being 2 and then I got that pic in November. Where he showed the well defined neck of a 3 yr old. Now he seems to look like a 2yr old again. My thinking he was probably one of those late born fawns. I have already gave him the pass twice this year and am excited to see what one more year will do for him.
 
chebuck":jav2ydlf said:
My thinking he was probably one of those late born fawns.
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I'd agree, good chance he's a very "young" 3 1/2 (at least a month or two "younger" than the other 3 1/2's of the area).

And that month or two born late will typically make a 2 1/2's body look more like a yearling's, like you were thinking last year.

However, there is also the chance he could have been "early" born (happens less often), as when a doe comes into estrous in October. In such cases, these fawns get a "head start" on the others in their age group, and an early-born yearling can look a lot like a 2 1/2.

Regardless, I believe he has above average antler genetics, and he'll have a larger rack (particularly greater mass) should he survive until next year.

chebuck":jav2ydlf said:
. . . . . last year I saw him several times and had problems ageing him. Body wise he was smaller than the rest of the 2 year olds on the farm and looked much more like the yearlings but sported 8 points and these super long tines.
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In the part of TN where I do the bulk of my deer hunting around 15% of the yearling bucks will sport 7 to 8-point racks, sometimes with relatively long tines.
 

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