Tanelson43":2xgv4bjz said:
I have been fortunate enough to kill two bucks that I have had at least 4 years of pictures of. Neither deer was very big but I was extremely happy to kill both of them. I spend a lot of time running cameras and keeping up with specific deer.
I have had several similar experiences, some of which pre-dated my having lots of reliable trail cams (or trail cams period).
One of my most revered bucks was one I believed to be 7 1/2 (taken in the Year 2006). He was a 140-class mainframe 9, but had been a 150-plus class buck (with much longer tines) as a 4 1/2 to 6 1/2. He seemed to have lost a lot of everything his last year, especially tine length, and I've seen that happen with numerous fully mature bucks, although they typically become more unique and grow more stickers and abnormal points.
Unfortunately (my opinion on it being "unfortunate"), those bucks most likely to live to 4 1/2 or older tend to be mainly those bucks genetically possessing below average antler potential. They're basically the bucks that seemingly no one wants to kill when they're 3 1/2 or younger, while on the other hand, relatively few of the bucks with above average antler genetics will survive past 3 1/2, with most getting whacked by 2 1/2. This is sometimes referred to as hunter induced antler "high-grading", somewhat similar to timber cutters mainly cutting the most desirable middle-aged trees, mainly leaving the "trash" trees to grow older.
As an aside, I once killed a buck believed to have been 6 1/2 or older, and he was only a spike. This wasn't one I'd been able to "track", so I have no idea if he had more normal antlers for his age when he was younger. I will say on the day I killed him, it was during the middle of the rut, and he was behaving fully like a fully mature buck, very cautiously slipping along the side of ridge at 12:30 p.m. (mid-day). He wasn't feeding, just slipping along very steadily, allowing me to watch him walk for about 100 yards, finally deciding to take him, in part because he looked so big to me (other than his rack).
! Looks like a yearling in first pic, 2.5 in second, 5.5 would be my best guess.
