Age this buck!?!?!?

[RedAllison]

This morning was opening day of TN juvie gun wknd. Stanton (my 13yr old) & I had the place to ourself. I told him to pick his spot, no dummy he automatically picked THE best trophy hole on the farm! :big grin

So few mins after 7am this buck stepped into the oat plot & fed for appx 15 mins before melting back into the swamp. We've taken several 3yr old bucks that weighed 220# at the processor but I think this buck is a 200#+ 2yr old! :shock: The short, narrow face, small ears, spindly & undeveloped rack, the lack of a sway back nor "squared off" hips really lead me to guesstimate this buck at only 2yrs old.

What y'all think?

 

[RedAllison]

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[RedAllison]

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[RedAllison]

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[RedAllison]

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[RedAllison]

???????

 

[FlatOutAlly]

He ain't missin' no meals, that fer sure.

 

[cminaldi]

Hard to tell from still shots. Lack of a "Roman nose" makes me think he's younger than 4. Very healthy. From watching him walk, how do his joints move? I've viewed MANY Texas deer and it's hard to judge this COW!

 

[h2oskiier30]

I don't know. How his neck goes down into his chest looks like a mature deer to me.

 

[Darth VMAX]

Wow... I never knew they grew them in TN like they do here in Kansas.

Cept the rack....

Looks like a good freezer deer to me!

 

[The Cashew Kid]

Cross-breeding with Hereford cattle are ya? :shock:

 

[Hotprop]

Would bet on 3.5 year old. Nice deer next year he will be a stud!!!!

 

[SmallJaw]

HE's not 4 for sure. He could be a 2 yr old but I'd guess him at 3. His lack of a sway back and low front end is a dead verification he's not over 3. He will be a Mack truck if he is allowed to grow though.

 

[RedAllison]

HE's not 4 for sure. He could be a 2 yr old but I'd guess him at 3. His lack of a sway back and low front end is a dead verification he's not over 3. He will be a Mack truck if he is allowed to grow though.

Thanks SJ, THATS IT! I've been trying to come up with a name for this buck, I thought about "Tubby" & "Anticosti" but MACK! Yeah Mack it IS! :beer:

 

[SLOmofo]

Thanks SJ, THATS IT! I've been trying to come up with a name for this buck, I thought about "Tubby" & "Anticosti" but MACK! Yeah Mack it IS! :beer:

Name it, ................ Jim.

 

[SmallJaw]

Thanks SJ, THATS IT! I've been trying to come up with a name for this buck, I thought about "Tubby" & "Anticosti" but MACK! Yeah Mack it IS! :beer:

I'd def let him grow too. He's got too much potential. When that body stops exploding some and he starts putting all that extra stuff into his antler growth...look out! He reminds me of a deer I shot a few years back in Illinois. That deer was built much like your deer and field dressed 256 lbs. 2nd largest bodied deer I have shot. It was a 3 year old BTW that scored 124 P&W. I was wishing I had not loosed that arrow as soon as I walked up to that buck.:laughing

 

[nickens21]

I don't know. How his neck goes down into his chest looks like a mature deer to me.

Plus his hocks are very dark, looks like some loose skin around the neck. Looks like 4-1/2 yr Plus cull buck to me. Is he just a six pt?

 

[F2008]

Why is he still upright?

 

[h2oskiier30]

Plus his hocks are very dark, looks like some loose skin around the neck. Looks like 4-1/2 yr Plus cull buck to me. Is he just a six pt?

Agree....4.5 year old cull. Bucks generally don't get the sway back until 5.5 years old. That buck's waist is about the same depth as his chest, which screams 4.5, and his legs appear too short for his body, which is a telltale for a mature buck. Also, as I said previously, the neck blends into the chest and shoulders. I'd drop him the next time I saw him.

 

[SmallJaw]

I'll have to stick with my 3 year old guess. I hunted with Otter Creek in Saskatchewan for 12 years in a row where 60 bucks a year were taken. A deer biologist aged just about all the deer as we had to remove the jaw bone and send it in, and a deer biologist at church always has to age the deer killed on Redstone Arsenal every year not to mention the zillion people bring to him all the time. The hocks being black have not a whole lot to do with age when they get to 2 years old in my experience, and the sway back on a really healthy deer can and usually does start to appear at 4 albeit it most of the time it is at 5, but most mature bucks will sport a roman nose, gray facial hair, swag belly, sway back, and the low chest. Mature mountain deer don't seem to have nearly the short legs as deer who live in level terrain. There again, all this is great conversation stuff. Shoot him next year and have him aged. That will settle all the fun banter.:laughing