Originally Posted by 4evrhtn

First, holy crap that is a big bodied deer. I shot an 11 pointer last year that weighed 225 field dressed. This one here makes him look small. I believe he didn't possess the genetics needed to turn him into a booner- genetic deficiency not necessarily defect. I believe he would have retained this same rack without any other mentionable points until he passed his prime but he probably would have increased mass slightly but not enough to justify keeping him alive eating up all the other deer's food.
I work as a personal trainer at Gold's and that is the only reason I know this tidbit.. 3500 calories equates to one pound of body weight. This deer has had more than his share of the good life. Does the private land owner have pics of this buck from previous years? It is hard to age him because of the body size. He doesn't appear to be past his prime hence I would argue if someone said he was a 6 1/2 yr old on the downslide. His body is just too big and he seems to be very healthy. If I must age him I'd saymost likely 4 1/2 but no more than 5 1/2. The only way he'd be left to breed is if I was selling venison for a living.