You are correct, nutrition is poor where i live. For my area he is a very respectable buck.
As far as the age of the deer let me say some things on different sizes of different body parts to tell you why I believe the 1.5 guess by the father in-law is insanely incorrect. The hooves were huge, over 3.5 inches long easy. The neck was wide and thick. The deer jaw was wide and thick. And in my area 1.5 year olds only have enough nutrition usually to be about a spike or4 point.. not an 8 point with a spread like this one.. The deer also had a big wide forehead as well. I didnt get to see his teeth because by the time I went to look he was frozen with his mouth shut. Another thing about the deer was the size of his body. When I got there to him he was just a big ol' boy. (harder to tell when hes gutted) He had a real long body,and i'd bet he was 160 on the hoof. His belly was packed full. I'm a fit 21 yr. old and that drag was TOUGH. Also the black part of his nose was real wide. If you look at the picture of him from straight on he has a big head on him and his nostrils and black part of the nose were pry 3.25 inch wide. Again, all opinions are appreciated.