Age this buck.... (added, is this the same buck?)

Big yearling or small 2.5? I have my opinion but want some unbiased opinions from you guys.

I have his match set of sheds from this year as well.

 

I'm goin 2 1/2.....Could go either way very easily though.

 

Although those are like some of the worst possible posters one could guesstimate with...

2.5 looks correct.

A 1.5 yr old will have larger hips then shoulders.. this buck appears (by the pics with him in awkward positions) to have equal hips and shoulders.. putting him at 2 years of age.

 

These were the best I had to work with.. I put my camera out late season for a week to check shed progress... I only got a few photos of him. I did not have any photos of him all summer.

 

Oh I know Scott... I'm not judging you or your camera..

Just merely making the observation about the buck always being hunched up.. which is a tough position to get a good shoulder and hip read on.

 

Thats a tough one for me Scott, with the genetics and feed you have there, your young bucks really pack on the bulk. If I had to put money on it I would say hes a big healthy 1.5

 

My guess would be 2.5 but really could go either way.

 

That's a tough call. Looks like that other buck Is a 1.5 year old, the bigger racked one Isn't much bigger/filled out to me then the smaller one of the 2 bucks.

 

I would guess 2.5.

 

Ok, I went back through the memory card and did find a few more pics of him. It was a PITA there was over 1000 pics on the card, mostly birds but it took a while to go back through them all.

 

My opinion is 2.5.

His shoulders to me look fuller than his hind quarters. Also, the photo with his body positioned toward the camera (3rd pic), his body appears to have to much girth to be a yearling.

The photo with the two bucks, his head is much larger, as is the length of his neck and body, muscles in the front legs etc...

 

just like the rest 2.5 118in

 

Okay, thinking back to last year, I remember a wide buck (for it's age) with short tines, a buck I thought would BLOW up into a big 2.5 for this year.... I just got through digging through a bunch of cam pics from last year to find this guy...

Is this the same buck or not? Wide rack, short tines... It's left G2 is the longest tine on both bucks... Photos were taken 150 yards apart, one season apart...

Last year

This year.


Last year

This year

 

I think it is the same buck...

I have few pictures from both years of the animal(s) in question. He or they are both camera shy.

 

Same buck it looks like, didnt blow up this year BUT we all know they can make a huge jump in the 3.5 season

 

Scott, did you mistype? You have pictures 1,3 and 5 marked as last year. 1 and 3 are the same buck last year but 5 is a different one. The buck in 1 & 3 has no brows but #5 does.

 

I'd guess average/smaller 2.5, though you would obviously hope for a 1.5 age.

That can be pretty typical of some 2.5s in my area, so that is what I am basing it off of.


I really don't pay much attention to rack sizes until 3.5 (potential wise), color me crazy but I just think too much of their nutrients are going into body growth at those young ages to ever write them off as scrubs that just won't be up to par. Obviously some won't live up to par, but others could explode into quite the deer.

I can't really tell if those bucks are the same, I can say with certainty that pic 5 isn't related to the other 4 pics. lol

 

2.5...might be a real looker next year.

 

My mistake, I uploaded the wrong thumbnail to photobucket. I will fix it (delete it out).

The buck in those photos does have brow tines, you just can't see them. They start real low toward the burr.

I however do not feel like going back through all those pics from last year to find more of him.

 

Then I would agree that pics 1-4 are the same buck.