There is also an antler trait that usually correlates well with a buck's age: It's "mass" in terms of circumference or diamter of the antlers, which may have little bearing on either B&C score or how many points over an inch that buck grows, i.e. 6-pointer or 10-pointer, etc.

Note that on the above mature bucks, despite their relatively low B&C scores, it is "mass" that dominates what you see at a glance.

Just me, but I get more excited about seeing lots of "mass" on a buck than a "thin" rack that "scores" higher.

Mass goes with age? Yes, it does!

Here is some good hunting advice.

All too often, hunters forget one of the most important aspects of successful deer hunting.
THE WIND!

I've seen hunters who look forward to their trip and have their minds made up long before heading to their stand that this is where they are going to hunt. NO MATTER WHAT. And MOST often is is because they have put so much time/effort/thought into that tree stand that they'll simply forget the wind and hunt.

I don't care how much you paid for your scent control suit, it won't help if the wind is wrong.

ALWAYS scout your spots with ACCESS and EGRESS routes in mind and hunt with the wind IN YOU FACE. Or cross if necessary. BUT NEVER AT YOUR BACK!!!

Also...another often overlooked aspect of the hunt VERY under-rated is human NOISE.

These deer have been relatively undisdurbed for months and now some yahoo comes riding up on a 4-wheeler or slamming a truck door and guess who is listening.

While young deer may not care, OLD deer DO. And they learn QUICK to relate ANY human noise with danger. EVEN if a LONG walk is involved.

102

I told the GW that I had estimated him to be min 4-1/2 yrs old, but when he checked the jaw teeth, wrote him up as 3-1/2.

Aging deer is part "art", part "science".
Lots of honest mistakes get made.
It is particularly easy to underage a deer by one year.
Really high chance your buck was in fact 4 1/2.