Guest littlebighorn Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 in an early post i did about how to find the big hogs you all said let them go to grow.sounds good,but my only problem is how do you tell if a deer is going to reach that stage later on down the road.you know good gentics from bad.i have shot a few deer but was never any good at telling aprox. age.the deer i shot last year was a 2 year old small racked 5.good or bad gentics?spicks and buttons i let walk.i am really trying to understand all of this.thanks for all you'r help guys (and gals)bye the way any one from michigan if so what part???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 Re: how to age deer Well, the quick and dirty method is to look for "short legs", swayed back, thick neck and a hanging gut to spot a mature buck. The face will also look short and fat and there may be jowls hanging down. Here's a link to something a bit more scientific... http://www.1atexasdeerhunting.com/bodyagingdeer.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Re: how to age deer Here is another link to aging deer I found to be pretty helpful tndeer.com . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Re: how to age deer Your Michigan deer are going to be similar to our Ohio deer, unless you're in an area where they're overcrowded and can't reach their full potential. For bucks I look at a few things. Mass and spread in the antlers--the more you have there, the older the deer. Typically around here a 3 or 4 year old deer will have at least 16" spread, and 5" bases. The other thing I look at is body size. If a deer's shoulders and belly are big, i.e. if the deer's torso and butt end look like a rectangle, that's a 3+ year old deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: how to age deer [ QUOTE ] For bucks I look at a few things. Mass and spread in the antlers--the more you have there, the older the deer. Typically around here a 3 or 4 year old deer will have at least 16" spread, and 5" bases. [/ QUOTE ] I've never thought antler size was a good indicator of age. It may be a good indicator of whether or not you want to shoot the deer, but there's no direct correlation to age. For example - take a look at this deer. He's 1.5 years old, 12 points, 20 1/4 inside spread, and scores 133 5/8 B&C. Then there's this deer. He's 4.5 years old, but doesn't have enough antlers to deserve a second glance. In fact, this deer really needs to be taken out of the herd to help prevent the spread of his genetics. BTW - Both deer are captive and were fed identical diets of 16% protein. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: how to age deer Yeah, I guess I was speaking in generalities here. It would appear Tex has the ability to monitor his deer pretty closely. We don't have that luxury here. I have to believe a Texas deer has a totally different diet than an Ohio deer too. [ QUOTE ] Typically around here a 3 or 4 year old deer will have at least 16" spread, and 5" bases. [/ QUOTE ] I'll stick to the word "typically" here. There's always exceptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvDog Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: how to age deer Ask for ID? Kidding...obviously Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: how to age deer [ QUOTE ] It would appear Tex has the ability to monitor his deer pretty closely. We don't have that luxury here. [/ QUOTE ] There has been an ongoing experiment by our state wildlife agency since the early 1950's on a captive deer herd at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area. I get updates from them every couple of years. That's where these 2 deer pictures came. That's also why I know they were both fed a free choice diet of 16% protein pellets. BTW - I'm not knocking anything you said, just passing along a few of my own observations in the interest of education... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted June 21, 2005 Report Share Posted June 21, 2005 Re: how to age deer [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] It would appear Tex has the ability to monitor his deer pretty closely. We don't have that luxury here. [/ QUOTE ] There has been an ongoing experiment by our state wildlife agency since the early 1950's on a captive deer herd at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area. I get updates from them every couple of years. That's where these 2 deer pictures came. That's also why I know they were both fed a free choice diet of 16% protein pellets. BTW - I'm not knocking anything you said, just passing along a few of my own observations in the interest of education... [/ QUOTE ] Yeah dude, I'm sorry. I went back and read my post, and I was in a bad mood yesterday, kind of touchy if you know what I mean. I got slammed in another post and took it out on you. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaskMan Posted June 21, 2005 Report Share Posted June 21, 2005 Re: how to age deer Our old bucks are alot more grey than the brown colored younger ones, body size are similar on a big old buck and a mature buck around 3.5 and 4.5, they're all big bodied. I don't put much stock in their age anyways. If they're a shooter I'm shooting, with that said most shooters are old bucks that have eluded man and predators for a few yrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 Re: how to age deer From all I have heard and read you do not want to look at the antlers as a basis when aging a deer in the field. Judging the body is a more accurate way to age a deer. If the deer is a shooter to you based on the antlers then by all means shoot it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 Re: how to age deer [ QUOTE ] Our old bucks are alot more grey than the brown colored younger ones [/ QUOTE ] Really? That's interesting. Our deer go through several color changes throughout the year. Right now, they're a light tan. Later they'll turn a more reddish tan, then on to a dark gray with some going almost black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitteken Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 Re: how to age deer That is one nice 1.5 year old buck. our year and a halves are usually about 6 or 8 pt basket racks. otherwise i can tell by the weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.