#1705012 - 01/03/10 03:21 PM
Re: Be careful field-judging age at this time of year
[Re: Bowdacious]
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Tree Tramp
8 Point
Registered: 07/22/09
Posts: 1560
Loc: Tennessee
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#1705048 - 01/03/10 03:43 PM
Re: Be careful field-judging age at this time of year
[Re: Tree Tramp]
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jlm
4 Point
Registered: 10/01/05
Posts: 108
Loc: Southern Middle TN
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Thats good info, but I can't field judge age. This is my field judging: 1) too little 2)give him another year 3)hes pretty good 4) hes a shooter 5) dammed almighty
If he's in the 4 or 5 range im goona try to do something with him.
_________________________
"When in doubt, pop a cap"
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#1705226 - 01/03/10 05:41 PM
Re: Be careful field-judging age at this time of year
[Re: Bowdacious]
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DOC1187
16 Point
Registered: 06/14/08
Posts: 10374
Loc: east tn
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nice deer and good pics
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#1705302 - 01/03/10 06:27 PM
Re: Be careful field-judging age at this time of year
[Re: BSK]
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gator-n-buck
16 Point
Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 14908
Loc: Knox, TN / Palatka, FL
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Just wanted to mention for those that either field-judge the age of bucks in trail-cam pictures or those that do so while hunting: be careful of field-judging age this far post-rut. Bucks--especially active breeding bucks--can lose a tremedous amount of weight during the rut. Even penned bucks have been documented losing 30% of their body weight during the rut chasing does round and round inside the pen. The "rules" for field-judging buck age are based on buck body-shape just before and at peak rut. Since many of the older bucks have lost weight during the rut, they can look younger than they really are. Even big bulked up mature bucks can look very different from early November to late December and into January. Here's a perfect example. Here's one of the mature bucks (5 1/2) I've been chasing and getting trail-cam pictures of. Here he is in early November, with all the classic massive chest and neck of a fully mature buck:  But here he is as of Dec. 30. He's lost a lot of weight, especially in his neck and chest. If this were the only picture I had of this buck I would say he is no older than 4 1/2: 
Yeah, I might of passed on him looking at the second pic, LOL. I couldn't pull the trigger fast enough on that one... I would of probably never got past the horns to look at the body..
BSK... Maybe that ole boy will show himself next year... Smart buck..
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#1705329 - 01/03/10 06:42 PM
Re: Be careful field-judging age at this time of year
[Re: gator-n-buck]
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JRS
8 Point
Registered: 03/17/04
Posts: 2310
Loc: East Tennessee
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Good post BSK!
_________________________
"We can skin a buck, we can run a trot line and a Country Boy Can Survive"
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#1705632 - 01/03/10 08:40 PM
Re: Be careful field-judging age at this time of year
[Re: JRS]
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stik
TnDeer Old Timer
16 Point
Registered: 03/12/99
Posts: 18419
Loc: lenoir city,tn
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i would be ground judging that one if i saw it.
_________________________
experienced hunters know its not just a bushy white tail, its a big middle finger.
nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught
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#1705843 - 01/03/10 10:48 PM
Re: Be careful field-judging age at this time of year
[Re: Rackseeker]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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How many acres do you hunt? It is hard to figure that you know the deer so well and haven't seen him this season in the daylight.
500 acres. But not a single buck that uses the property lives completely within the confines of the property. All bucks (and probably all deer) are shared with neighbors.
This particular buck, once he turned 5 1/2, went completely nocturnal. I got over 40 pictures of him this year from August until just the last few days, yet I never got a single picture of him during daylight. I got pictures of him at salt licks, in food plots, along old logging roads, at scrapes and entering and leaving sanctuaries, yet every picture was at night.
I passed him up when he was 3 1/2, we got daylight pictures of him at 4 1/2 but never saw him (although a neighbor shot at him twice with a bow and missed both times), and we again never saw him this year, with no daylight pictures. No neighbors saw him either.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#1705847 - 01/03/10 10:53 PM
Re: Be careful field-judging age at this time of year
[Re: trealtree]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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They also may be missing those horns.
If your deer are healthy, they will hold their antlers until spring. Antler drop timing--over a wide range of bucks--is an excellent indicator of herd health.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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