Age This Buck!
This buck is a big mainframe 8-pointer that was shot in Central Illinois.
Luckily, we’ve got pictures of him from almost the exact same angle but 4 months apart. A lot of change happened to this buck’s body, so let’s see if you can guess how old he was when he was shot back in 2020.
Leave your best guess then check out what our deer aging experts think.
I'd guess that this buck is 4.5 years old in 2020. The 2019 trail cam photo makes me believe that he was a 3.5-year-old deer that season. He appeared to have a slender body build with a flat back and a chest just beginning to fill out. Images from 2020 clearly show this buck's solid build one year later. His body has become more rectangular, no longer sporting a trimmed belly line. His neck, where it meets his brisket, is thick and muscular. Lastly, he no longer looks long-legged, a characteristic that usually disappears when a buck reaches 4.5.
This buck is beginning to show some extension at the brisket. It also appears to have well-developed hams as well as muscled front feet. However, with well-defined facial features, pointed ears, and a well-defined nose along with the absence of sag in the back and its belly, I would estimate the age of this buck to be four. Behaviorally on video, he even walks with the confidence of a four-year-old.
This is a buck that I was able to harvest in January of 2021, during a frozen, snowy evening. He is a big main-frame 8-pointer that I had 1 encounter with earlier that fall, and a fair amount of trail camera pictures the year prior. By looking at his flat back and filled-out neck, I would estimate him at 4.5 years old at the time that I shot him.
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Kurt Thorsen
Bob Zaiglin
