The rut can take a heavy toll on the bodies of whitetail bucks, after a month of chasing, fighting and eating very little, signs of fatigue show in their body shape and size. Even the most mature bucks can look run down and skinny after an eventful November.
Sporting a slender yet rather large body in December of 2022, the question is asked. Is this buck older and showing signs of a busy breeding season, or is he a younger deer that perhaps didn’t see as much rut action as the older age class of bucks?
Draw your own conclusion, and then have a look at what our panel of other hunters had to say about this Illinois whitetail.
See What Our Experts Think
Expert Opinions
Graham Cronin
Some of these pictures could be a bit deceiving, but I believe this buck to be 3.5 years old.
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Mark Kenyon
here's one that could be tricky, as these are December photos. At this time of year bucks are ran the heck down, so despite some of these photos making the deer look a bit thin, I'm thinking he's still mature. His stomach is tight, but I'll attribute that to a busy rut. I'm going with 4.5, but if you said he was older, I wouldn't be shocked due to the post-rut effect.
PJ Reilly
The first photo is the only one that has me second guessing my pick, but I’m going to stick with it.
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