Here's why I hate aging deer from trail cams. Firs video I'd guess that deer not a day over 3.5. But then I see a daylight video of same buck. Dude is gray as the winter sky.
Guessing Age
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
NEVER try to age a buck when he is all fluffed out!
He is a 3.5yo. The 2nd video is a trick!
He is a 3.5yo. The 2nd video is a trick!
He's gray. I agree 100% he looks exactly like what a 3.5yr old should look like in every way except he's gray! If his forehead wasn't stained his face would have no color left. I've never seen a 3.5yr old with so much gray and white hair.
3 1/2
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Me either. I'd be curious if this was one of your oompa loompa deer...
Can be tough guessing an age, but definitely helps having multiple pics and videos from day and night and from different angles, broadside shots are usually the most helpful though.
MS_Strut
Active Member
This isn't a knock on anyone or this particular thread at all. It just happens to be the one I asked my question in. Very well may be something I can learn here and that is why I am asking.
I understand wanting to only take mature bucks. But I don't understand the obsession to try to age a deer on here. Am I missing something about aging these deer? Is it just a management thing or what?
I honestly couldn't care less about a deer's age. If he's a shooter for me he's getting something flung at him. I'm not brown is down. I'm also stuck hunting public land so I feel like a mature buck at least is very unlikely to come across.
I let a few fork horns walk this year. Only to see one of them getting loaded up by some old man a few weeks later. Just part of it I guess. It made me realize there is no way I can "manage" while hunting public. Still doesn't make me want to take one just because someone else probably will though. Maybe a kid will take it or it might get hit by a car.
I understand wanting to only take mature bucks. But I don't understand the obsession to try to age a deer on here. Am I missing something about aging these deer? Is it just a management thing or what?
I honestly couldn't care less about a deer's age. If he's a shooter for me he's getting something flung at him. I'm not brown is down. I'm also stuck hunting public land so I feel like a mature buck at least is very unlikely to come across.
I let a few fork horns walk this year. Only to see one of them getting loaded up by some old man a few weeks later. Just part of it I guess. It made me realize there is no way I can "manage" while hunting public. Still doesn't make me want to take one just because someone else probably will though. Maybe a kid will take it or it might get hit by a car.
Nothing wrong at all with your. decisions/choices and don't listen to anyone that tells you any different.
Some people hunt does
Some people hunt anything with horns
Some people hunt mature bucks
Some people hunt antler size
Some people it's a combination of multiple factors
No right or wrong answer and you make your decisions if it's legal
But to answer your question, yes, it's a management type thing to try to age/learn them
ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER
Well-Known Member
My guess is 2 1/2 but maybe a 3 1/2 ran down
It's on the property with all the oompa loompas, but I don't recognize him and don't have any pics of him with other deer I do recognize for reference. I also don't recognize him from previous seasons. Here's a broadside shot of him standing still. My thoughts are this late in season and neck/brisket still swoops below belly line, and tail is no longer anywhere near level with hip. Neither of those attributes are indicative of a sub mature deer. Also if you ran a pole behind his front legs and lifted, he would tilt forward because he has more mass on the front half of his body than rear.
For me it's because I nerd out on deer. I'd like to say it's for hunting purposes but really I only hunt a few days in a given season. Mostly I'm just fascinated by the animals and the puzzle of trying to figure them out. Not for any reason other than I enjoy it. I'm not into golf or football or fancy cars or collecting watches or really anything else. I'm into deer. Just like you can't understand the obsession of trying to age deer, I can't understand the obsession of learning the stats of a pro athlete. Who knows what makes people tick? We do what we enjoy.
MS_Strut
Active Member
And that's what I figured. And I certainly understand that.
It's great to have a passion for something. Even better IMO if it's something to do with the outdoors. To each their own. I'm glad there are people like yourself who care that much more about deer. I respect any animal I hunt and even ones you can't hunt. You can learn a whole lot from any animal.
I just didn't know if there was something more that I was just blanking on. Enjoy
Wooden Arrow
Well-Known Member
older bucks will have a saggy chest & sway back . talking 4 1/2 and up. "dad" bods, lol...
I've always heard that but in my experience a buck with saggy chest & sway back usually means mature, but doesn't mean every mature buck has to have it. I've lots of pics & videos of very mature deer that have no sway in the back or anything sagging. It's especially true late in the season after a couple months of hard rutting.
This buck I killed last year never did get a swayed back, big belly, or big chest and I have pics going back to the 2018 season. I guessed him at 3.5 back then and aside from a couple pics where he looks maybe 4.5 I would have guessed him as a 3.5yr old every year since if I didn't know better. He looked like a 3.5yr old for 5 years. Same 10pt frame the entire time that hardly changed except gained mass & brows lengthened. Actually I think his 2021 rack was his biggest as a 6.5yr old. He was 7.5yrs when I killed him, and wasn't as gray as the one in my original post.
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I've seen the occasional young buck that is real gray compared to others. I believe it's just like some humans. I had a buddy that turned gray headed by the time he was 28. My dad didn't have a gray hair till he was 60. Grays coming for all of us just some get there early on. My taxi aged my deer at 6.5 this year and he had a lot of gray.
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wobblegobble
Well-Known Member
The gray face thing is plum crazy! Some deer have different colors, some dark some lighter.
