I've argued enough in the past about what to shoot/what to pass....

My sincere question arises regarding the age estimation from cougs about the size of his deer. I know TN is southand all, but what he's calling a 2.5 year old buck is not even a NICE 1.5 up here. I want to know if these are his guesses, or has he gotten the info from jawbone aged deer from thier dept of wildlife?