Not really that good at guestimating a deers age so any guesses how old they are? I'm curious to hear what you all think. I'd definitely pull the trigger on the last buck givin the opportunity because he looks mature but not really sure these pics are all from last week. Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
Sorry still can't figure out why all my pics hit sideways and it's not the best camera Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
man, id be excited if i were you. i dont know where you hunt, but where i hunt, that deer would be about 4.5 years old. a four and a half year old deer down here might look different than a 4.5 where these other guys hunt. the first buck should probably be culled out. the second, lay him down man. ive killed deer that big with my bow, but thats about as big as i will kill for a while. i cant control that the only area i have access to doesnt have the reputation of boomers. we can only do so much. be proud of that deer. goodluck, hope you smack em.
I am no expert and I looked without my cheaters but his face looks old, large bases and the tines look on the decline. I am talking about the 1st pic.
with his shoulders being developed pretty well and a thick chest, I would say 3.5. Hard to tell for sure due to poor picture quality I'm not sure why anyone would reccomend culling a 2.5 year old deer. At 2.5 they haven't even had a chance to show true potential. Culling a deer is just an excuse to kill a deer. I don't think this deer is 2.5 years old though.
I'm hunting in northeastern ok and these are all private land bucks so odds are good and I may get a Crack at one before it's all said and done Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
I was thinking 3.5 maybe 4 year olds guess that's the disadvantages of not having a ton of history with bucks but I have the go ahead to hunt this piece of land so maybe as the years go by that might change but I've never saw these bucks before last week. Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
culling is not killing. it is removing poor genes from spreading throughout the herd. and making room for the better genes to better the herd quality which means bigger bucks. at 1.5 yrs I will agree it is too early to cull but at 2.5 yrs old you should know the potential of a bucks antler size. if these deer are indeed older than 2.5 I would definitely shoot them out of the herd.the 4th pic is actually the one you should target he is pretty nice.
Unless you are hunting inside a high fence it is almost impossible to improve antler quality by selective removal of deer with "inferior antler genetics"
The two top factors in antler growth are age, and nutrition. Genetics is at the very bottom of the list. Removing genetics to improve your deer herd is a myth. Deer put on 30-40% of there antler growth between 4 & 5 years of age.
Some very good points made here fellas. This is my first year hunting this property and I've already had some misfortune with it I've shot two bucks this fall on the property and found neither, one of which was a really wide buck and the other buck was a main frame compact six point with all kinds of junk large bases and just a true stud. These bucks are the ones I'm thinking that are still around so I'm stuck in a place where it's up to me to either let them all walk, cull as some have suggested here or make an attempt at harvesting one or two before the season ends. This season for me has been the best Rut out of my five years bowhunting that I've ever seen and a lot is due to the area I'm hunting. It's is 20 acres but is between some even larger properties and my stand is smack dab in the middle of it all with noticeable trails all coming into a row of white oaks. A buddy who helped me track referred to it as big buck woods I was kinda tickled by that because he has more hunting experience then me. I want to improve my odds here for the future and getting these bucks on my camera was an eye opener to me for sure. Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
