Age?

[Bodeanie]

Any guesses on the age of this fellow? This is the only pic I have of him and he just showed up yesterday. Body certainly no match for his hardware.

Thanks

 

[cbhunter]

4.5 minimum but I'd almost bet on 5.5 or more

 

[TheLBLman]

4 1/2 or older.

A common hunter-induced phenomena, which seems to be worse in TN than many other states, is many our older bucks end up with smaller (or lower scoring) antlers than many 2 1/2 & 3 1/2-yr-old bucks.

The phenomena is called antler high-grading, where hunters selectively kill off the the largest antlered younger bucks (3 1/2 & younger), leaving mainly the smallest-antlered bucks to survive to 4 1/2 & older.

The buck depicted above appears to be a classic example of this.

In an unhunted herd, the average living (surviving) 4 1/2 & 5 1/2-yr-old bucks should have larger, higher-scoring antlers than the average living 3 1/2-yr-old buck. But in most TN herds, especially those under QDM antler restrictions, we see really bad antler high-grading, which eliminates most the possibility of what many hunters claim to want most, i.e. a high-scoring mature buck.

Sadly, to me, it's my observation that the genetically-born overall "best" antlered bucks most commonly get killed in TN when they reach the age of 2 1/2. A few survive to 3 1/2, at which point their presence is widely known, then that buck is specifically heavily hunted, by multiple hunters, over thousands of rut-roamed acres, with that specific buck unlikely to live to 4 1/2.

Growing high-scoring mature bucks cannot happen when we kill off our best young stock.

 

[Ski]

I'd guess 4.5.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

4.5+

 

[BSK]

4.5+

At least 4 1/2. Probably older.

And TheLBLman is right on the money. The worst antler high-grading I see is on high-dollar "trophy" hunting clubs that use a system for determining "shooter" status of bucks that involves antler score.

 

[Bodeanie]

You are spot on TheLBLman. We have 2 or 3 bucks every year that show great potential, only to have neighboring property owners blast away any hope of them reaching their potential. I have tried to get them to let them grow and harvest some of the numerous does, but they seem to have no filter when it comes to shooting bucks. I thought this deer showed some age, but was leaning toward 3 1/2 to maybe 4 1/2 years old. With the large number of does and small bucks that are keeping my plots cut down like the greens at Augusta National, maybe I can get a few more pics that show him better. Thanks to all for the input.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Think he is 4.5, or older.

 

[Volbuck777]

5.5