Ageing whitetail deer on the hoof.

[buckstomper]

I would like to find some good videos/dvds in regards to ageing deer on the hoof. My wife and I are only allowed to harvest 5 1/2 year old bucks and this is the first year I have really made an attempt at learning to age the deer.

Anyone know where I might find a good dvd?

[buckstomper]

Also, here are a few pics. Would anyone care to age and score them?

I am hoping the 10 pointer is 5 1/2 but I am guessing more around 4 1/2 and low 140's?

[buckstomper]

And here is the 10 pointer.

[buckstomper]

And one more shot of him.

[timbercruiser]

The deer in the June 22 picture is young, maybe 2 1/2 the one under the feeder is an older deer, thicker chest and neck. In the bottom picture he appears to have a flat back and belly, butI'll be surprised if he is over 4 1/2. I'm not sure the bottom two pictures are of the same deer.. You will hunt a lot of days before you kill nothing but 5 1/2 year old bucks. Check with the Quality Deer Management Association www.qdma.com website, they should have some charts, etc that will be useful. Their magazine lately has been having a "age this buck" section every month. I personally wouldn't hunt under those age limits.

[AUTiger]

Imo - That deer is 3' - What you need to look for (again imo) is a sagging belly, short nose with a fat head, and watch the way he walks - if you are over the age of 30 them you know how it is getting out of the bed in the morning - looks just like an old deer moving throught the woods. More on the belly - you see how his belly is flat older deer will have a pot belly.
young = flat belly old = Saggy
Also, i think all three are different deer - 1st 3' 2nd 4' 3rd hard to tell bc of the distance but 3' or 4' maybe

Hope this help

Autiger

[Marko B]

First of all... where are you? That makes a big difference.

If you are in Texas those deer are older than you have been told so far in this thread. If you are further north, then they are probably right.

Also, still photos are notoriously bad for judgeing age and score of deer.

Video is much better.

Where I hunt everyone takes out video cameras and brings back what they saw and we have a show and tell at night.

We havent made a serious mistake in 5 or 6 years.

The BEST way to age deer is to take video one year, let him walk and take video the next year and see what kind of transition he made by comparing. It's kinda like age triangulation, but it is the most effective way out there.

Deer are just like people. Some deer look young for their age. Some look old. There is no foolproof method.

[buckstomper]

Yes, I am in Texas and on top of that, I am around Possum Kingdom lake which is making it a little more difficult for me to age these deer as they are probably going to be even smaller bodied than other deer in Texas.

The two ten points are the same deer. Hopefully I will get better pictures from my game cam.

Thanks,

Marty

[Marko B]

From that one picture where the deer is looking at you,the 10 looks like he is ready to go man.

The first deer looks 3 or 4 in that picture.

Can't tell much about the far away picture of the ten.

[antlerking_fan_09]

hay I know a good video for its called building whitetail paradise. trust meI learned so much from it u will learn everything