New Jersey Hunters banner
1 - 20 of 24 Posts

bunny hunter

· Registered
Joined
·
973 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
Which description most closely describes the buck in this picture?

Image


1)The neck will be bigger than a doe or yearling buck, but not much. The legs still look fairly long. The face looks long and the skin tight. Eyes are near perfectly round. Slightly developed brisket. The belly still has somewhat of an upturn near the hams. The tarsal gland may have some color to it. The rump appears squared off.

2)They are usually very lean muscle. The neck continues to get bigger, making the head look shorter. The nose broadens, adding to this illusion. The brisket is noticeable but not pronounced. Legs look the right length now. The belly line is flat, with little up turn at the rear. Rump starts looking more rounded at times and squared off at times, depending on stance. Back line is flat.

3).The giveaways now are the back and belly lines, and the head. On level ground, the back will have a slight dip only, and the belly will not hang below the chest line. The head skin will not look tight or loose, and the eyes almost round but not quite. Rump is getting pretty round.

4)Now, the eye will not be round anymore, it starts to look squinty. The brisket is obvious where it joins the neck. The belly hangs even with the chest or starts to hang below it a bit. Skin on head starts looking a bit loose.
 
Nobody has an opinion?
Since it clear you simply can't let this go...

Here is an opinion about this exact buck that was posted on another site before this thread was even started...

JC

TH said:
I would have to guess 1.5-2.5 years old based on the small mass of the rack (i.e. thickness at the baeses). His neck also seems too small to be any older. Also not showing alot of muscle definition throughout the rest of the body yet. He does have a sizeable spread so I guess I would lean more towards the 2 year old.
 
Kind of a tossup between #2 & 3 in my opinion.

Being a prostaffer though, I feel confident in guesstimating that buck was 1,383 days old when he had his picture taken.

Or 3.7890410958904109589041095890411 years old.

Just a rough estimate though...
 
Perkington,

Perhaps you are not aware, however there is significant charectoristic to bucks that fall into your category #1 that you failed to include above...

At 2 ½ years the size of the antlers will usually catch your attention. For this reason they make up a large percent of the buck harvest each year, but their antlers are still just beginning to grow. They will still have relatively thin antlers.
JC
 
Why don't you ever answer a question?
What the heck are you talking about? Are you off your rocker?

Remember that picture you posted is MY picture, and you are copying almost exactly the thread I started days ago. In that thread I long ago made it clear that at most I believe that buck is a 2.5 yr old buck!


It is clear to everyone here that you only started this thread because you are looking for people to support your view that the deer is "3.5 years old with bad jeans" as you would put it.

JC
 
Absolutely not...nor have I...or anyone else on this board suggested they did.

Equally as important, few if any hunters that become succesful at ageing bucks ever will...

So the point of your question is what?

(Also any comments on the statements written by the biologist below in Deer & Deer hunting magazine that are completely contra to your stated view points?)

JC

DEER & DEERHUNTING said:
There are quite a few hunters who don’t believe you can age bucks in the field. That view is most commonly held by hunters who haven’t had the chance to see older buck age classes. However, it certainly is possible and is practiced by thousands of deer hunters and managers.
 
You can't answer a question without putting a spin on it.
In other words...you are trying to change the subject, and you are trying to control what it is you want me to say...and now you are realizing that you can't do that..

So, since you failed at that, you are now unhappy that you might actually have to discuss this topic that you, yourself, only hours ago, felt was so important that you had to start a fake thread to discuss?

The only thing you should be unhappy about is the fact that you put yourself in this position by starting such a thread, with the clear goal of causing a controversy where none existed, (outside of your mind)...for no legitimate purpose whatsoever...

JC
 
I'm reluctant to share this because I hate to fuel a fire...

Anyway, my uncles friend owns/operates a deer farm, so I've been lucky enough to spend some time up close and personal with bucks that are of known ages, right down to their birthdate.

You'd be surprised at what a perfectly balanced nutritional diet and great genetics can do to a deer. Some of the 1 year old bucks dwarf most 3 year olds. Both in body and antler size.

He says that nutrition, closely followed by genetics are the biggest factors in how "old" an animal "appears". Deer that eat well and have good genes, grow a lot faster than deer with poor genetics, lacking the right foods. Their bodies and antlers will be larger, making them appear to be older than they are.

So, while it's nice to "guesstimate" the age of a deer and is good to practice.

...A little time around bucks of different ages, genetics and diets has proven to me that field-estimating age by body, facial or antler characteristics can be thrown out the window in some cases. There are only two sure-fire ways to know how old the animal is. Watch it fall out of its Mother and keep track, or kill it and send the teeth out for cementum annuli analysis.

My belief is field-estimating a deers age can never be much more than an educated guess. Nothing wrong with that, but no sense in arguing about "guesstimates" guys.

Why dont you guys just let it go![up]
 
anyone can say its 2.5 or 3.5...but unless the teeth are looked at you will never really know...but then again even then the tooth expert could be wrong:D
 
Does it even matter weather this deer is 2.5 or 3 he still needs another year to get some good antler growth thats all. No one can feild guess his exact age commen sense tells us he is between 2.5 and 3.That rack there is lucky if it scores a 90 but if you give a deer like this one more year he could be a 130 next year
 
Perkington,

A similar discussion came up today and I noticed this old thread when I was going through the archives.

Since by your own admission you were looking to be educated on this subject. Here is another picture of the same exact buck that is pictured above in your post only these pictures are taken a year later. If we are to believe your view that this buck was a 3.5 yr old in 2007, that would have made him a 4.5yr old in these pictures below. (A view I doubt most here would agree with based on their recent comments on this subject.)

JC

Image


Image
 
1 - 20 of 24 Posts