BSK... on avg, which age does a bucks antlers start to decline?

Darn good question that doesn't have a good answer. It appears to be a regional/sub-species process. The northern whitetail (borealis) seems to keep getting bigger until very late in life (even 8 or 9 years old). On the other hand, TX whitetails appear to peak at around 6 1/2. The same should be true for bucks in the Southeast, but one thing I've noticed several times is that bucks in TN often peak in tine and beam length at 4 1/2, then lose some tine and beam length at 5 1/2 but add more mass and sticker points. The result on score is still probably an increase in gross score from 4 1/2 to 5 1/2, but a decrease in net score.

What happens beyond that age is difficult to say. The problem is getting a large enough data set to say anything with conviction. To date, I can count on one hand the number of TN bucks I've been able to photograph at 6 1/2+. BGG and I have discussed this several times and we honestly believe that in the wild few bucks live to 6 1/2+. TX is so unique in their land-ownership patterns that I don't think you can consider TX bucks to be "in the wild."