I recently moved into a new area in Va. This last week alot scrapes and rubs and scrapes started popping up everywhere on this property I've been hunting. This buck and a few spikes (and alot of bears)is all I've gotten pictures of. Could this little guy be leaving all that hot sign in the area?? Also, what would be the estimated age of this deer andcould thisbe a "management" buck?? I've taken a couple of respectable bucks here and there, but judging age and geneticshas never been my thing.This land has rarely been hunted and a drop tined 10 point was shota few milesdown the roada fewyears ago. I really want to try andmanage a quality deer herd on this property since noone else really hunts it.Coming from a big buck paradise in Wv I never had to worry about it much before.

Lord he looks really young! I don't think he's even old enough for daycare! lol Give that one a chance and in a couple years he'll look a lot better.

He isnt even old enough to whipe his own......jk

Really hard for me to answer since I am from the midwest but even so, his body doesn't look to me as if he is very old...maybe 2.5...I'd let him go and let him grow to next year. As far as all of the sign, even those little spikes you see will make scrapes and scar a few saplings but it's quite possible there are bucks you're not catching on film that are making sign.

Let him walk he is young

That deer is very young, his body tells me he should be sporting a fork horn rack....not the one he has now.

Is that the remnants of a salt lick he is feeding on?

Regardless, he has good symmetry, and in a couple -three years he will be a dandy.

I would say he is not much older than 18 months, as his legs are still long compared to his body, and his hooves are rather dainty, and his neck isn't swollen though it should be as the rut in your area is only 2 weeks away. He is still splaying out his legs as he bends to feed, and all that tells me he is a very well developed 18 month old whitetail.

Little guys like him leave ALOT of sign (scrapes especially) as their hormones are active, and they don't quite know what is going on...so they scrape alot out of frustration. I bet that you can find a TON of scrapes by him in areas that are relatively flat and close to cover. He won't hit the ridge tops much in daylight till next year, that is why I am saying that. I would also bet that within a 100 yards of where this photo was taken...you will find a group of saplings that have been rubbed like there was no tomorrow!!! He will rub and push those saplings to work out the frustration of what his body chemistry is doing to him.

Another management question then....If you had to take one, which one would you take? Left or right?

BTW - I'd take the one on the left. One on the right is waaay toooo young.

Take the one on the left.

Though they are both really young, the one on the right has ALOT of girth in those tines and beams, and will be a book buck in a year or two, and the lefty one shows no promise of having a symmetrical rack, or any size to it.

All deer are beautiful, but the one one the right is gonna score WAYYY up in Boone/Crocket or Pope/Young if allowed to grow.

Plus, if left alone those genes will be passed on and on and on....

Thanks Guys for all the replies already. I just cant judge a deers age. You'd think after 11 years hunting I'd be able to tell. This is only my second year really using those cameras real heavy and I'm having alot of fun seeing the deer that run the woods when I'm not there.
In your opinions and experience will he stick around the area and grow for years or disperse?? I'm fairly new to "management" practices and have alot of questions. Like I said coming from where I've hunted (and still hunt alot) you just dont have to worry as much about the management factor. Here where I am now, Its just "different" to say the least.