I have no idea:D THat is just a bad ass stache. I cannot age diddle in other locations, I go off what I know, which is not much.
I try to refer to him as Dale. I'm gonna try to have it every November.. til it catches on! No.. but I'm really going to do it next year for the entire month of November. People can pledge for it.. so I wear it.. it's a fund-raiser thingy for Prostate Cancer here in Chicago. Next year it will be back.
Lol on the popularity contest! In my area I go by weight being the big factor on the age thing and also It's body features. I do also look at the rack and use characteristics from that some too. If you know your deer In your area there's no reason why you can't honestly judge a buck up to 3.5 to 4.5 years old In your area.
Maybe we should just make a rule that none of the popular people (or any of their ass kissin buddies :D) on this forum should be allowed to give an opinion on the age of a deer they killed ... This rule of course would not apply to me since I'm a nobody...
By the body features (not neccessarily the weight) its fairly easy to tell the difference between 1.5's, 2.5's, & 3.5's here. Beyond 3.5, we don't see them very often so I have no clue. Our body weights aren't very big...typically between 90-100 dressed on 2.5's and 100-120lbs dressed on 3.5's
In general a buck 3 1/2 yrs or older around here will field dress at 200 lbs around here. Im sure there are some 2 1/2 yr olds that may reach that weight as well and I know some really old deer may be less than 200. The buck my dad shot today field dressed 165 but when we checked the teeth they were consistant with a 5 1/2+ yr old. This deer was extremely unique. His ears were probably only 3 1/2" in length and from his nose to the corner of his eye was only 6 3/4". I think he definately had some issues
Very similar to my area Mike. Prior to this year I had killed 6, 2.5 year olds in a row. I had them all weighed. 5 out of 6 of them weighed 90-100 pounds. The 6th one weighed 120 pounds at 2.5. He was just eating real well I guess. I had not at the time, and still have not seen a 2.5 year old as big as him in the 10 years I have hunted Quantico.
I have only seen a few bucks that would go over 150 pounds on the hoof at Quantico over a ten year period. I killed one last year that I thought was right at 150 pounds. I also saw one other buck last year that had the biggest body I have seen on the base. I put him around 180 pounds on the hoof. He was also the oldest buck I have ever seen on base. He looked to be 5.5 or older. Sagging back, drooping neck skin, old looking face...etc. Sliver, whereabouts did you hunt on Quantico my friend. We very well may have hunted the same spots, 35 years separated! That is really cool.
Well I dont know what to say anymore, the last normal buck I shot was judged a 3.5 and weighed 175 live weight, the piebald I just shot weighed 125 lbs live weight, with a bigger rack, so I have absolutely no idea what to believe anymore.
Im an appearance person. Not weight or antler size. Face, body shope, coat condtition, neck. Thats how i judge my deer.
I'm getting into this discussion a little late, but like most people have said weight varies with age just as often the rack does. I said in the thread of the doe I harvested that the Bottom Deer on our property are like another species of deer than the others on our property. Probably genetics, but they are just bigger, stockier deer overall. ERgo, I think genetics has more to do with it than anything. Here are a couple examples: The doe I shot this year, when I walked up to her I thought 5 year old based on weight, legnth and a grey face. We weigh her after field dressing and she's 95 lbs. Two years ago my brother took a 4 year old doe that dressend 100lbs. We cut the jawbone out of my doe and she's two years old. She was a Bottom deer. About 7 years ago a hunter took a GORGEOUS two year old 8, the little dude only dressed 95 lbs. Three years ago he took a 115-120" 3 year old, he only dressed 115lbs. Last year a hunter took a 3 year old 120" 8 that I had passed on earlier in the year because lack of body size. This buck dressed 110lbs. The above three bucks were all taken from the location on our property. Bottom Bucks, on the other hand, run around like bulls on our place. We haven't taken a Bottom Buck since I've been keeping harvest records because they are so darn smart. That being said, of the bucks we have gotten on camera, I would guess a 3 year old to dress around 140 lbs. with a 4 year old dressing 170-180. Also, keep my doe in mind. Just some numbers to digest, but I think those are classic examples of the role genetics plays.
