Age of Deer

[ECcrabber]

I took these with a trail cam.  Any idea how old they are?

[CTcrabber59]

Hard to say without a full look at him. He looks to be in great shape! If I were to guess I would say somewhere in the 3 to 7 year old range. If you look at his back you can see if his spine is nice and straight or is it starting to sag? as he gets older his back will sag a little in more of a concave shape. Nice looking buck and nocturnal as well so he is no dummy!. Hunt him hard in the rut if you can. That will be your best bet. Find his trails and scout him hard. Look for his bedding areas and feeding areas. Get some good binoculars and look over everything. Chances are he will be watching you when you are scouting! Good luck with him, I hope you get him!

CT

[dantheman2929]

Hard to tell with the night vision. He looks dark on the main part of his nose. His whole face looks somewhat large. I would say 4 - 4 1/2. If I were managing a farm i would give him atleast 1 more year to reach full potential. If this is on a farm where it is hard to manage then take him. He is a nice deer. But in a few years he might have a little more width, but he will most certainly have more mass....

[jefftoleft]

You guys do know that is 2 different deer right?  

[dfran]

3 1/2- 4 1/2

[CTcrabber59]

Jett you called it! I was not really paying attention to their racks! I was looking at the faces and body mass. The antlers do tell a different story. The bottom pic has a little more heft to his rack. He looks older. I think dfran is pretty close on his guess.

CT

You guys do know that is 2 different deer right?  

[Captain C]

I live in Cecil County where most guys knock the spots off deer. If I were you I would get em take em before the somebody else does, both deer look good.

[bassman349]

It's difficult if not impossible to tell the age of the deer based on antler size.  Antler growth is influenced a lot by genetics and types of food consumed by the deer. In many areas a 2.5 yr old buck could be sporting a pretty large set, especially if the genes are right and high protein foods are available.  If you do kill one of those bucks and are curious about the age of the deer, you can study the system that biologists and DNR uses which involves observation and measuring of the teeth. 

[CrabDog]

I would say at least three years old. but it really depends where you are and the food sources available and the genetics of the heard... The only real way to tell a deer's age is by their teeth....that is how DNR use to age your deer back in the days when you actually had to check them in ....

[ECcrabber]

They would both look good mounted on my wall!

[indoe]

I would shoot them if they came my way!  I do prefer the bottom rack. But my guess is 4 years old. There necks do not seem as big as a 5 year old would be but could easily be a 3 year old. I have been watching 5 bucks grow up in my back yard and the one that is 4 years old has a nice 10 point rack. If I could hunt him I would.

[capt. ron]

Depending on the area you can't tell the age of a deer by its rack.  I killed a nice 9 pt with a 16" spread that was only 1.5 year old.  The only true was of aging a deer is by the wear of his teeth.  Size, spread, and mass don't really tell how old a deer is.  You should be able to get more info on aging a deer from your local wildlife agent.

Ronnie

[indoe]

EC I suggest you shoot one and determine the age by the teeth. Then shoot the other one in a year or two. 

[ECcrabber]

EC I suggest you shoot one and determine the age by the teeth. Then shoot the other one in a year or two. 
[/quote

That sounds like a plan - but I just had another 8 point show up.  They are all coming before or after daylight.  Any suggestions on when I should set the feeder timer?

[indoe]

I would suggest setting the morning one an hour after sunrise. That way they know that food will not be there until after it gets light. If you set the one in the evening then the food might already be down when they come out after it is dark and the deer might not know the difference.

[lone sailor]

I live in Cecil County where most guys knock the spots off deer. If I were you I would get em take em before the somebody else does, both deer look good.

Thats the way I feel. It is really hard to tell the age unless you see the teeth. The biggest buck I have ever seen, a 16pt was killed by a friend of ours he was 2.5-3 years and a DNR officer did the check at the check in station.

[JimmyDangle]

OLD ENOUGH TO SHOOT! Why does it have to be 95 degrees on opening day of Bow season?!?! Can't tolerate the bugs...

[cullenw08]

once the rut gets here look into an active scrape dripper too. One of their big purposes is to repattern those big bucks that only come out at night.