Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Age this deer


Nova

Recommended Posts

Help me tell how old this deer is. Here are several different angle of him. What do you think?

MDGC0046.jpg

MDGC0313.jpg

MDGC0047.jpg

MDGC0048.jpg

MDGC0331.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to guess 4 1/2--5 1/2 buck. Very healthy looking buck, good luck in getting him this season, he's gotten that big for a reason???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking 2 1/2 - 3 1/2. The rack looks good but the spread doesn't seem to wide. Either way he is a shooter in my book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say 3 1/2. I don't know where he is and how the food sources are around that area, but he is no more than a 190lbs. Don't get me wrong, I would shoot him, but if you give him one more year you will have one heck of a buck. If you have a bow, yes, if you see him towards the end of the season still on his feet and you know he won't get shot by the neighbors, let him grow. He is not exceptionally wide, but has great mass. Do you know if he will get any wider? Any history from the land (dad, grandpa). If you know what he could be, you might hold off. I would think he is around a 120-130inch buck. Just my guess though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2.5 years. The deer has a thin face and has no belly to speak of. Its a fairly young deer that has good genetics and good nutrition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He looks to be a 3 1/2 year old buck, about 16-17 inch width with good mass. I have this same looking buck on my wall with shorter tines and he scored 131. I would safely score this one at 140 +or- an inch. If you can manage the land and the neighbors don't get a chance at him I would let him go for another year. Seeing your other pic's in another thread, I would take the big 8 with the sticker points first before this 11. He looks to be more mature than this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My guess would run approx. 2.5 years old. Smaller thinner face, narrows shoulders and not alot of body mass. Yes, I would probably shot it as it may make P&Y book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember, he is still in velvet and looks bigger than he actually is. If you have an opportunity to take him in velvet, don't even think about it, fire off an arrow. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, I can get you my phone number and I would be happy to assist you in culling this deer or maybe his grandfather.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say 2.5. Skinny face, no belly, etc. I would have a hard time not taking him even though he is young.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The second and third pix really show a lean build with long, thin legs. Not a whole lot of bulk like you see with the older bucks, and no belly sag, either. Very healthy looking buck, but I'd say this was his 4th summer at the most (3 1/2). Tough to look past that head gear, though, and a respectable deer none-the-less!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2.5 thin face, narrow back, nice tall frame with decent bases but within the ears and room to grow. Remember they look bigger with velvet, our camp rule is 8 point minimum extending past the ears.

I would say let him go another year and push the mineral...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know we are talking about this deer as a 2 1/2 year old. There has to be a bigger buck around with those genetics. He may not be coming out yet, but this guy is not the dominant buck at 2 1/2 or even 3 1/2 years old. You also want that guy breading at least one more year. These are good problems to have I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nova:

Is your time off on those pictures?? Just an observation, i'm sure you already know wink.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is extremely hard to say. Looking at the body and horns only can be deceiving.

The only way to "really" tell is to check out his teeth.

Good luck with that! grin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I say, 'rope him', saw off one of his antlers and count the rings! grin.gif

I agree, hard to tell by a picture if he's a 2.5 YO vs. a 3.5 YO.

I shot a 7.5 yr. old (verified by DNR doing tooth analysis) and everyone was guessing 6.5-10.5... by it's looks. It's only a guess until you look at the teeth.

Good Luck!

Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

actually I was so impressed by all the deer I did not notice that blush.gif. It looks like it is though... I'll have to check when I get up there Thursday night. I know I had it set right at one point this late summer mad.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the the deers body I would say 2.5. However, it could be 3.5 as well when you consider the size of the antlers (looks like he has some mass but hard to tell with velvet). Whatever the case, it is a young deer and if he has a chance to age a year or two more, he will be very impressive. He could be the one in several thousand that could be a true booner soon! Tough choices this Fall maybe?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3.5 or 4.5. There's been a lot of comments about his body shape. Wait for 45 days and then look at him, he'll be big and blocky with plenty of sway and sag and swagger, and lots of guys will be guessing 5.5. Nonetheless he's a fine deer.

Hammer Handle had it right, the only way to know for sure is to have his teeth examined grin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.