Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Sign up

Age of buck question?

at1010

at1010

*Supporting Member*
5,404
172
I have a question for all you boys who are good at aging deer!

How old are you willing to age a deer (WITHOUT camera pics history on that given deer)

I personally can tell if a deer is 2.5, 3.5 or 4.5. I have never felt confident after that, just think there are to many factors. Recently I have read a lot of guys sayign they are "passing" 4.5 year olds, setting goals at 5.5 or better.

Do yall think that is just smoke, or am I just not that good at aging deer?


thanks for reading!
 
I think it really depends. To first answer your question about aging one without pics or history is a tough call. Aging a deer with pictures and aging a deer on the hoof is two totally different things. And I mean totally different. Nine times out of ten on the hoof you aren't going to have the time or angles to accurately field judge a deer past 3.5. Not saying it can't be done. But to say if that deer is 4.5 or 5.5 is a damn tough call on the hoof. To me the biggest piece of information you're going to lean on when making that call is the genetics of your area. You may not have history with that buck. But if you know your local genetics that will go a long ways towards helping determine that new bucks age. Personally. If a guy tells me he passed a 5.5 and just judged him on the hoof I instantly think 3.5. A 4.5 and 5.5 year old deer is a rarity. Less than 20% of the bucks killed in this state are 3.5 or older. I would say less than 5% are 4.5 or older. If someone tells me they passed a 5.5 year old deer I just smile and nod.
 
Jackalope said:
I think it really depends. To first answer your question about aging one without pics or history is a tough call. Aging a deer with pictures and aging a deer on the hoof is two totally different things. And I mean totally different. Nine times out of ten on the hoof you aren't going to have the time or angles to accurately field judge a deer past 3.5. Not saying it can't be done. But to say if that deer is 4.5 or 5.5 is a damn tough call on the hoof. To me the biggest piece of information you're going to lean on when making that call is the genetics of your area. You may not have history with that buck. But if you know your local genetics that will go a long ways towards helping determine that new bucks age. Personally. If a guy tells me he passed a 5.5 and just judged him on the hoof I instantly think 3.5. A 4.5 and 5.5 year old deer is a rarity. Less than 20% of the bucks killed in this state are 3.5 or older. I would say less than 5% are 4.5 or older. If someone tells me they passed a 5.5 year old deer I just smile and nod.
Click to expand...

This is my exact same thought!

Ok what if someone just shows you 1 trail cam picture. No history and says "can you age this deer?"

Do you (or feel majority of hunters) could honestly tell you that given deer is a 4.5, 5.5, etc?
 
at1010 said:
This is my exact same thought!

Ok what if someone just shows you 1 trail cam picture. No history and says "can you age this deer?"

Do you (or feel majority of hunters) could honestly tell you that given deer is a 4.5, 5.5, etc?
Click to expand...

I'd have to watch a few grant woods videos before I gave an answer LOL.
 
Unless you have history it is purely speculation after 4.5.

For example.... does this deer look 6?
uploadfromtaptalk1415792194344.jpg

I don't think he does. But I have the history to prove he is... otherwise o would have just said he was 4
 
Kaiser878 said:
Unless you have history it is purely speculation after 4.5.

For example.... does this deer look 6?
View attachment 25902

I don't think he does. But I have the history to prove he is... otherwise o would have just said he was 4
Click to expand...

Jesse, Zack, Joe, All,

I am so happy you all are saying this! I have always thought the same thing, and recently this is the new "CRAZE" I see guys saying, they are passing 5.5 year old deer.

I really feel confident aging a deer to 4.5 by 1 trail cam picture or if I can watch him for awhile before deciding to shoot. If you follow hunting FB pages, they always post pictures and ask for age. People will be like 6.5, 7.5, 8.5. There is just NO FUGGING way, you could be that accurate, IMO. Yall confirmed this for me!

Either way, I just wanted to see if I was just being overly judgmental or if most ppl are really full of it! hahaha
 
Even aging teeth based off wear is inaccurate as far as I'm concerned. A deer who lives I. Big woods and east hard mast his whole life is going to wear his teeth far faster than a deer in ag country.
 
Kaiser878 said:
Even aging teeth based off wear is inaccurate as far as I'm concerned. A deer who lives I. Big woods and east hard mast his whole life is going to wear his teeth far faster than a deer in ag country.
Click to expand...

this was a point I was going to bring up! Good point!
 
I have a buddy that has a 9 year old buck as a pet. I don't think there is any way to know how old a deer is by looking at him. I have heard people say, "Needs another year" a hundred times, and in many cases, another year would not improve a deer's antlers one inch. "Sammy" has had the same antlers, essentially, for the last four years that I've known him.

To get an accurate age on a deer, you have to bisect his teeth. Deerage.com will do it for 35 dollars or so.
 
bowhunter1023 said:
I use deerage.com for my bucks. Great service.

If you want to stop reading BS, you need to clean up that FB feed!
Click to expand...

aint that the truth! What got me fired up was a guy who said he had a great season even though he didnt kill a buck. He then went on to say he passed several "4.5 yr olds" He was holding his standard to 5.5 or better.

So that got me thinking, either I am one dumb SOB and dont know what I am looking at or, people are full of shit! hahaha
 
whitetailspecialties said:
You would be amazed how many people bring me deer, that thinks they are 5 1/2.
Click to expand...

Hey! Quit picking. I said I think he was a 4.5yr old. :smiley_crocodile:

With one picture? Not knowing local genetics? Pretty dang tough. Summer vs fall pictures vary greatly. I studied "aging deer on the hoof" the last few months trying to get better at it. I set out this year with a goal to kill "a mature buck." You know what happened in the 1-2 seconds I had to size up my buck before making a decision? I saw his rack and knew I was shooting. Pictures, history, and having him on the ground help me to "believe" he was 4.5yr old. I would be lying if I told you I studied his body as he came in. Even if I had that (time) opportunity, I am not sure I would have been able to tell you. 1-2yr old or 2-3 difference? Yes. 3-4 difference? Not always. 4-5-6-7-8yr old differences? Gets pretty hard after 4 in my opinion, based on what I have read and what I attempted to educate myself with online.

FB isn't a place to learn very often. Sort of like going to the D&T Expo. Lots of guys there who want you to believe they are the next best thing. I would lay money on the table you could learn more by reading TOO, than by hunting a season with "many" of those guys. Not saying "all" because I am sure a handful are legit and real deal, knowledgeable, hardcore hunters. I suspect many are simply fortunate in where they hunt and nothing else. Same could be said for myself. Wouldn't have killed the deer I did this year if I didn't have a property to hunt which held a deer like that. Then again, I am not trying to be some outfitter, bedazzeled pocket jean wearing, wannabe TV guy. I am just a dumb lawn mower jockey who spends as much time in the woods as possible and loiters on TOO.
 
Its tough to age them less you have some yearly history with them .sightings or cam pics or have a tooth tested.
I know on our farm we do have some bucks 4 to 7 yrs old just from cam pics each yr and a couple from sightings but no cam pics each season.Still amazes me a couple bucks on our farm I have yet to get a pic of and they have been around awhile but have had many sightings.
 
Tooth wear... Up to 4.5 with decent accuracy in my opinion. And normally I agree with most of what Kaiser says but I disagree on the variation from one end of the state to the next. Most deer in Ohio are eating similar foods. Whether north or south, they all eat corn and acorns and woody browse. After 4.5 though it's a fuggin crap shoot. Obviously you need a history with a deer to be completely accurate. The tooth bisection services are very reliable as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.