I thinrt now s the hardest time of the year to look at them and judge age. Most of your bucks are gonig to be super light in weight compared to what they were 3 weeks ago. I know for a fact the deer I killed this year was a 4 y/o, only because I have a history with him. Although, if I had shot that deer and had no history I woulda swore he was three! From Oct. 1st to he day I killed him he probably lost around 60-70 lbs. Some people owuld say thats crazy, but Im telling you, it happened and I have the photos to prove it.
THe method of judging overall body size on this deer should be thrown out hte window, considering the time of the year it is! Looking at neck, where it meets his chest tells me he is atleast a 4 y/o. Although, he does have a bit of a sway to his back, which could put him at 5.5. His head is bulbous, making his ears look small. I would say you are correct in putting thsi deer at a minimum of 4.5. Although, I could be wrong and he could be 3.5! ha His slenderness looks like a 3.5 yo deer, but like i said, they are super light in weight right now!
So he should get better next year then??? I want to get some more opinions on this because he is killable right now. He is going to my corn pile every evening and morning. If he's only 4.5 he's gonna get a pass from me. A buddy of mine killed one on this same property 4 years ago that looked identical to him but had an inside spread of 27 and had a big drop on one side. Longest tine was 9 inches. Netted 158. The tines going forward on this buck make it hard to judge his score.
Fugg his age JD and kill that sumbeech!LOL He's a mature deer(I say 4.5 at least) The mass and character alone are reasons enough to kill him..........Plus I don't like to make it a habit passing SOLID OBB caliber deer. I love how the g-4 and g-5 slant extremely forward. One prob I do foresee is how he'll be scored. Will that tine on his right side between the matching shorter g-2's and the longer g-3's be defined as an abby or will it be paired with the true longer g-3 on his left side(which would fugg him good in the scoring process). I say it would be an abby and just a straight deduct because it looks like it just doesn't belong there. What do others think? I'd still swarp his ass, but thats just how I roll.:smiley_coolpeace:
He would be scored as a typical 11. The points one the rt side are in "typical" order/position. They come directly off the top of the beam!
Although I agree with both of you(Zach/Jim) that he is a typical 11 pt and that the tine in question is coming off the top of the beam, BUT if you start at the end of the beams and work your way backwards toward the g-1's it is clearly is the odd man out so to speak. I'm not an official scorer but I have scored a few in my day and I think I remember hearing or reading something about the tines being paired up as to the way they are positioned in the total configuration. I could be wrong but it just seems wrong to match a 6 inch tine to a 9 inch tine that is 4 to 5 inches further up the beam and directly across from a more appropriate mate. Just sayin'.
Although I agree with both of you(Zach/Jim) that he is a typical 11 pt and that the tine in question is coming off the top of the beam, BUT if you start at the end of the beams and work your way backwards toward the g-1's it is clearly is the odd man out so to speak. I'm not an official scorer but I have scored a few in my day and I think I remember hearing or reading something about the tines being paired up as to the way they are positioned in the total configuration. I could be wrong but it just seems wrong to match a 6 inch tine to a 9 inch tine that is 4 to 5 inches further up the beam and directly across from a more appropriate mate. Just sayin'.