I'm still in the learning stages here as we are just now starting to get some older deer. What we used to think were 3.5 are actually only 2.5. Last year we aged the bigger bucks by looking at tooth wear and our biggest buck was 3.5 (we thought at least 4.5 until we looked at the teeth) and the others that we thought had to be at least 3.5 were only 2.5 after looking at tooth wear. I say all of that to say that I am now looking at our deer herd differently. I used to think any buck scoring in the 130's was a 3.5 for sure, but several of the bucks last year that I looked at in terms of tooth wear were only 2.5 while scoring in the 130's or 140's. It's hard to judge a deer on the hoof when you've never seen it before so the trail camera data is extremely important so that you can judge a deer when you are hunting because you already know approximately how old a deer is before you see him in person. One of the neighbors shot a beautiful 8 point scoring int he mid 130's last year and thought it was for sure a 3.5 but when we aged it by tooth wear it was a 2.5. It also explains why we haven't seen amny true giants. If we shoot bucks at 2.5 and they never have time to truly mature then they won't become the giants we are hoping for. I also think it's hard to recognize a buck from year 1 into year 2, but as they go from year 2 into year 3, they become much more identifiable. Sorry this got so long winded, but I guess for me the best way for me to judge a buck is to get some trail camera pictures of him first.