RE: How many years.........
No one cared how old a deer was 40 years ago (1967), But I got an 8pt my first season, Spine shot it, and continued to shoot it till itstopped kicking, looked like a pin cushion.
After getting out of the Marine Corps (I missed a few years of bowhunting for Uncle Sam) andkillingthe first good bucksI got a shot atfor a few years, I figured out if I kept filling my tags on average bucks, I would never tag a big one. I shot my first big one in 81, a 140 class 8pt.
Im sure some of the bucks I shot between 67 & 81 would be what is considered Mature since I hunted Mi, Va, SC, and Al in those years, but like I said, no one cared how mature they were back then any deer with a bow was a good one.
Even today since alot of my hunting is done on public land, I go by how much bone is on their heads, not by how worn their teeth are. Might be different if I owned a big chunk of private land.