Can you age a buck by his sheds?

[readonly]

That may seem like a dumb question. At the very end of November, I had a beautiful 6 point buck come through under my stand. I got to observe him up close for several minutes. A very pretty rack with some mass and main beams that swept upward beautifully. The spread was not huge and the tines not terribly long. He was not tiny but very lean and I pegged him for a nice two year old up and comer.

The drought hit my area pretty hard in spring and early summer and my bucks that survived the year before either lost rack size or barely gained.

Today I found one side of the six pointer mentioned above. It is clearly bigger than 2 almost all 2 year old sheds I have from past years and as big or bigger than known 3 year old bucks as far as main beam length and mass. Looking back, his lean appearance could very well just be that he was rutted out...hence the early shed.

So the original question...can you age a buck from the size of the shed anlter?

 

[Ski]

Short answer no. It's pretty easy to guess yearlings and 2yr olds but 3yrs and up are impossible to distinguish.

 

[MickThompson]

Antler mass (circumference) and beam length are the 2 characteristics best associated with age. Are they perfect? Hardly, but neither is the method used to estimate age.

 

[redblood]

Antler mass (circumference) and beam length are the 2 characteristics best associated with age. Are they perfect? Hardly, but neither is the method used to estimate age.

All true. Tooth wear has so many variables that can throw off accuracy. I firmly believe that trail camera charting over the yrs is most effective tool. Usually deer are identifiable as 2.5s and just watch them over the years

 

[readonly]

With this one I have seen him once and found the shed no pics from this year and none that I remember from last.

 

[BSK]

Basal circumference (mass at the base of the beam, usually measured one inch above the bur) and age tend to go together. However, that's just "tend." Basically, on average. Yet there will be many outliers. Do I use mass to judge age? Nope. Will I use mass as one indicator of age? Yes. But body conformation is my #1 criteria. Other indicators, like mass and beam length, will be considered in 50/50 age judgements.

 

[redblood]

Here is a fully mature post rut buck (pic a couple of days ago) whose rack is as thin as pencil

 

[102]

I score a lot of older age class deer.
As BSK said, (and I most times agree with him)..."TEND" is the operative word, Most times when I score a buck with heavy beading, burring, and abnormal points near and on the antler base, it "TENDS" to be older than 4.5.

 

[BSK]

I score a lot of older age class deer.
As BSK said, (and I most times agree with him)..."TEND" is the operative word, Most times when I score a buck with heavy beading, burring, and abnormal points near and on the antler base, it "TENDS" to be older than 4.5.

Exactly. If I've got a buck on camera with the body conformation of a 2-year-old, but he's got 4 inches of mass at the bases, with lots of knurling and little kicker points, I'm going to lean towards the idea he's older than his body conformation suggests.

 

[Ski]

Here is a fully mature post rut buck (pic a couple of days ago) whose rack is as thin as pencil

Looks like a typical Coffee Co 5yr old. Still a wily old mature buck that is fun to hunt, but most top out around 115" with spindly racks. Antlers just aren't reliable indicators of age.

 

[redblood]

Looks like a typical Coffee Co 5yr old. Still a wily old mature buck that is fun to hunt, but most top out around 115" with spindly racks. Antlers just aren't reliable indicators of age.

Yep. Definitely largely a genetic trait.

 

[redblood]

We do see a few 2.5 and 3.5/ that carry genetics for heavy antlers. Try to protect those at all costs.

 

[redblood]

Few years ago we had a super heavy 3.5 that hung around all yr. Almost shot him with a muzzleloader by mistake. Got a video of him after the season walking around back yard in late January. Healthy as a horse. Never saw him again