RE: how are all these people telling the age of a deer?
What i have come to study is a multiple of features.The rack is where i start (cause want to know if im shooting or sitting) Then i look at the chest, if the chest sticks out in front of the shoulders its usually a good method to tell if the deer is mature, along with the belly. If the belly hangs lowjust like with cats, its another way to tell a bit mature animal. If it has a roan nose( hump on the nose) another good way to tell age. Some times really old deer will be more grey. During the rut, checking out the tarsal glands too, young bucks tarsals will not be nearly as blown up and black as an older buck, however thats not always the case. Aging them on the hoof takes practice and knowing the appearence of deer in your area. Nothing is 100% until its down and you can examine the teeth.