Age this guy.

[WildRose]

What is y'all take on this deer front shoulder blades? Old age?

View attachment 403667

The leg blending in with the neck and the fact he's got his head down and close to the camera makes it somewhat deceptive. He's probably going to be a 4.5yo buck though if you got him on the ground and aged him by his teeth.

Normally buy 5.5 you'll notice a little loose skin around the eyes and the beginning of a saggy jowl but you can't tell about it from that angle.

 

[WildRose]

Here

View attachment 403696
View attachment 403697

From that angle I'd say 4.5 at most.

Notice how straight the back is, no sag in the belly other than it being full, no real loose skin around the eyes yet or noticeable jowl.

 

[Rhett Crider]

Straight nose, straight back, straight belly, long legs. I agree w/ previous posts. 3 1/2 and will probably be a cull buck. But if being a dry year, maybe not.

 

[WildRose]

I'm still saying 3.5 based on that pic, the neck should be thicker this time of year for a 4.5

Straight nose, straight back, straight belly, long legs. I agree w/ previous posts. 3 1/2 and will probably be a cull buck. But if being a dry year, maybe not.

It's been a terrible dry year across most of the state. Other than the places where hunters feed the deer all year it's probably not going to be much of a year for trophies.

 

[SEGARE]

With that thin neck and straight back I'd say probably 2.5, certainly not over 3.5

This, for the reasons stated...and we'll fed.

 

[WildRose]

This, for the reasons stated...and we'll fed.

Generally, I'll only feed from Oct1-March 15th because that's when things start getting a little tough on them, particularly if it snows but the guys feeding year-round are going to reap the benefits of doing so this year.

 

[WildRose]

Deer are a lot like people, most game animals are. You can tell a whole lot just looking at the skin around the eyes and jowls. Really old bucks almost look like they've been snake bit in the face and then the swelling went down leaving the skin real saggy.

 

[WesternTX]

Looks like a well fed 2.5 to me…. Maybe 3.5…. Definitely not older

 

[Roughrice]

It's been a terrible dry year across most of the state. Other than the places where hunters feed the deer all year it's probably not going to be much of a year for trophies.

The terrible drought this year has affected the nut growth of hardwoods here in Louisiana.
There are VERY few acorns in the oaks. They are normally falling by now and there's none.
The woods are clean down underneath the old trees.
Seems the same for pecans.

 

[K.E.C.]

Any more?

2 yrs and 1 day.

 

[Buck-bomb]

He's a 2-2.5 year old with great genes. Will be a stud if he makes it a couple more years.

 

[ChanceInTexas]

Most of those you posted are just young deer. The only two ways to know for sure on age, are either with history or ear tags. Teeth are notoriously incorrect. I know a lot of y'all mentioned using the teeth, and even using the cementum annuli process, but the bottom line is teeth are a horrible way to correctly age a deer. I've been doing this a LONG time and have just seen it too many times on known aged deer. We kill a lot of known 8-10 year old deer and their teeth will almost always show 5-6 years if you go "by the book".

Trying to age deer in the summertime is almost impossible. They ALL look young. They ALL have skinny necks. Usually by October or November (Texas hill country) they will start to more accurately show their age. Keep in mind, nothing is 100% when aging on the hoof. Not all bucks will get a sway back, or a pot belly, ect. In fact most don't. Here are some pics of a buck my son killed back in October. Notice the white ears. We watched this buck since he was a spike, back in 2015. Actually, we are not certain if it was 2015 or 2014, so to err on the safe side let's say 2015. That would make him 8.5 this year. There is NO denying it is the same buck. He was a fixture on our lease and a fun deer to keep tabs on all those years. Oh, and his teeth showed 5.

The first pic was from September. Most folks would age him at 5 off that pic. Very typical for a deer of this age. The last pic is obviously from back when he was a spike...8 years ago.

 

[TX Badger]

Most of those you posted are just young deer. The only two ways to know for sure on age, are either with history or ear tags. Teeth are notoriously incorrect. I know a lot of y'all mentioned using the teeth, and even using the cementum annuli process, but the bottom line is teeth are a horrible way to correctly age a deer. I've been doing this a LONG time and have just seen it too many times on known aged deer. We kill a lot of known 8-10 year old deer and their teeth will almost always show 5-6 years if you go "by the book".

Trying to age deer in the summertime is almost impossible. They ALL look young. They ALL have skinny necks. Usually by October or November (Texas hill country) they will start to more accurately show their age. Keep in mind, nothing is 100% when aging on the hoof. Not all bucks will get a sway back, or a pot belly, ect. In fact most don't. Here are some pics of a buck my son killed back in October. Notice the white ears. We watched this buck since he was a spike, back in 2015. Actually, we are not certain if it was 2015 or 2014, so to err on the safe side let's say 2015. That would make him 8.5 this year. There is NO denying it is the same buck. He was a fixture on our lease and a fun deer to keep tabs on all those years. Oh, and his teeth showed 5.

The first pic was from September. Most folks would age him at 5 off that pic. Very typical for a deer of this age. The last pic is obviously from back when he was a spike...8 years ago.

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Why did you leave those inferior spike genes in the pool? You should have known he would never turn into anything.....

Very cool that he had such a specific trait that you could keep track of him.

 

[338 dude]

Trail cam picked these. Res is not good. Age this one with tall rack. I don't know the answer, tryng to learn.

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The deer in the bottom pic looks a little heavier, but I would guess 2 1/2