Age This Buck #30

This week’s Age This Buck article features a deer from Northeast Illinois.

Bucks in this region of the state live off bean and corn fields from the summer through winter. Peak rut activity in this area is generally from early to mid-November.

Leave your age guess in the comment section below, and see how old our experts believe this deer to be.

I'm going to guess this buck at 4.5 years old. I think the images from the year prior show a late season, run down 3.5 year old. In 2022 his body is more broad, with a neck that is seamless as it meets his brisket and legs that appear shorter. All signs of a 4.5 year old.

This particular buck exhibits a large neck comparable in size to its chest cavity. When the animal turns, a slight drop in the skin below the lower jaw is obvious. It also appears to have well-developed ‘muscled hams’, and a slight appearance of squinting eyes is also noticeable along with a rounded nose sloping downward. Without an obvious drop in the animal’s back, I estimate the age of this buck as a five-year-old animal.

This is a buck that I've been keeping an eye on the past 2 years, and I'm almost 100% certain that this was a 4.5-year-old buck in 2022. All the typical signs from his big shoulders, deep chest, large neck, and rectangular body point to him being a 4.5-year-old buck. This combined with his aggressive seeking during October and November make me believe he's mature.