How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I'm curious as to what people think the size of 1.5 old bucks are? I've seen some guys call an obvious 1st year basket rack, an 'old mature buck'.
I have occasionally been torn estimating a large 1.5 and a small 2.5 buck, because I do get some nice 1.5 around. This past season, I saw some 1.5's with 12-13" spreads, 6-7" tines. Nice bucks. Then I also see scraggly 4 pts, both being 1.5 olds.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I agree with that statement 100% and believe nutrition plays the biggest role in the antler diffrence betwee small "rack bucks" and scrubby "forks and spikes". If you compare a 2.5 year old buck with poor nutrition and a 1.5 year old buck with a high protein diet the racks are likely to be simular. I passed on two IMO 1.5 year old bucks opening day (I saw three but the two that offered shots were both smal 6 pointers) and I was at the local shop taking to the guys that work there and they damn near laughed me out of the store when I said I passed two small 1.5 year old 6 pointers. The guys had never heard of such a thing and said I had some sort of super genetices in my woods. B.S.! What happened was I planted two food plots and these deer were getting optimum protein in their diets and their racks were reaching their "true first year potential". Needless to say I think the guys are IDOTS now and I spend very little of my time and money in their shop. The are obviously misinformed and attempted to belittle me on a subject they obviously haven't researched. Sorry to digress (those guys just agrivate me[:@])

Back to your question, With proper nutrition it is very possiable for a 1.5 year old buck to produce a rack. The two I passed were probably 55-65 inch bucks. IMO very respectable for the size of the deer that was sporting the head gear. With that said I also believe it is very possiable for a 2.5 year old buck with poor nutrition to produce the same or in some cases even smaller racks.

It comes down to nutrition, nutrition, nutrition and nutrition for the entire 200 days of the antler growing season. Diets play such a role in the development of a whitetails body and antlers the only way to accurately determin the age of a deer is by examining their jaws and dentition.

***For the record I'm not a biologist but am very well read on the subject;)***

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

In my experience antler size varies a great deal even in the same geographic area. I have seen everything from spikes to wide 6 point racks on 1.5 year olds in my area. I have also seen small racked 2.5 year olds. I dont think you can tell the age of a buck by looking at the rack. You can guess but it is nothing more than that.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

Scrub 4-6 points. Not enough agriculture (food) for thier bodies to grow big enough and pump enough surplus energy (food) for horn growth.

In Kansas - likely to be a nice 8-10 point rack albeit basket racked.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

Actually, when comparing 1st year bucks that have nice racks compared to scrub 4's, I believe being born early or late plays a significant role. All these deer are eating the same good food, but some produce a nice 1st year rack, others struggle. It either boils down to genetics or which deer got a better head start in life. Take a buck born in mid may to strong healthy doe, compared to another born late june to a young 1st time mom. The sooner born deer is going to be worlds ahead of the other.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

Most of the 1 1/2 year old bucks in my hunting areas in Ohio are 4 or 6 points with the racks inside their ears. Of course we see some spikes but probably 80% of them are 4 or 6 points with an occasional 8 point.

Below is a pic that I captured from my video camera after I passed a shot at this 1 1/2 year old buck. He was a 7 point and had good mass and I think he has great potential for a 1 1/2 year old.

I believe he is a 1 1/2 yr old because his rack is still inside of his ears even though he has decent tines and mass for a young buck (he is eating my biologic in the pic).

This pic is what I would call an average 1 1/2 year old for my area:


The 2 1/2 year olds start getting outside their ears, I estimate this buck to be 2 1/2 years old:


This one I know was 2 1/2 years old;):


And here is a typical 3 1/2 year old that my son shot this year:


I feel fairly confident when field judging their ages because I have had the teeth aged for most every deer I have shot and I kept the jaw bones as a reference. Having said that there is no guarantee and I am sure some 1 1/2 years olds do blend with smaller 2 1/2 year olds. Of course body size can also be an indicator. My dad shot a buck a few years ago that had a smaller rack than the 2 1/2 year old in my pic above. But his body was huge and his teeth indicated him to be a 3 1/2 year old that had a smallish rack for that age.

adams, if those guys thought that a 1 1/2 year old 6 point was something special then yes they have no clue.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I agree with all the statements made. Good Genetics and nutrition with high protein (IMO) is the key to producing good racked bucks! I will also agree that there really is no way to tell a bucks exact age simply buy looking at him? Although a good experienced hunter can usely guess pretty close not buy looking only at the rack but also the body to. I have seen 1.5 yr old bucks that were 8pt and i have also seen 1.5 yr old bucks that were only a spike.It really does not matter how old a buck gets if he has bad genetics and has had bad or no nutrition to speak of. Don`t expect to have a real big trophy animal it just does not work that way(IMO)

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I disagree, it is fairly easy to judge his age just by looking at him. Rarely are we wrong when comparing my estimate to when we have the teeth aged by a DNR biologist. Body size, shape of nose, antler mass, and main beam length can all get you very close just by looking at him if you know what you are doing. Now actual number of points has nothing to do with it. I read a study in Deer & Deer Hunting a few years back where the deer were aged at a check-in station and several antler measurements were recorded. The age and antler measurements were then compared and antler mass (circumference at the base) and main beam length correlated fairly well.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

Okay, here are some pics of different bucks and what age we believe they are....


This first pic is of a nice 8 point that we believe to only be a 2-1/2 year old deer. This is one of those bucks that is a great deer but if he makes it another year, he is gonna be huge! This is what genetics and a constant source of food year round will produce.



This is the typical 1-1/2 year old buck for my area. Yet again, this guy has food plots to feed off of all year round!



Another 2-1/2 year old deer. We know this guy was 2-1/2 as my best-friends uncle shot him last year. Another interesting fact about this deer is that sometime in his life he had cracked his skull in half! It healed together, but when he took it to the taxidermists, he had a skull mount done to show off the skull.



Here is one that kinda stumps me. He is large for a 2-1/2 year old, but his body doesnt' look like a 3-1/2 year old deer. He doesn't really have any sagging in the belly area and there isn't any dip in the back.



Here is a cool picture I took at a local deer ranch. These are the sheds of a buck they own starting as a 1-1/2 year old deer.



Here is a 4-1/2 year old deer....

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

Buck Magnet, are those pics from the deer farm..Cooks Forest? Man they have some monsters in there.

Blodg I don't claim to be an expert but I'd argue on some of your estimates, for instance that buck in pic 1's body looks better than a 1 1/2 year old to me. I think the body is a better indicator than antler growth.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

Excellent point! I agree this along with nutrition play a big role. To take it a step further, the health of the doe could also be taken into consideration. A healthier doe will produce healthier offspring for a doe of lesser health.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

Agreed, so let's see - we have how early the buck was born, the health of his mother, nutrition, and genetics. I think genetics and also the geographic location play the biggest role in antler development. As someone pointed out above, you can see a variety of size in 1 1/2 year old bucks in your area and they all have the same nutrition available. We all know that age is the most significant factor but this post was started talking about 1 1/2 year old bucks.

Badatta2d, you may very well be correct with that buck in the first pic. He may be one of those who is borderline when guessign between ages because I agree his body looks bigger than a typical 1 1/2 yr old. Maybe the steroids I put in the biologic are working! :D I am more sure of the rest of my estimates and the dead deer I know the ages on. Which other do you question?

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

(IMO) I have a hard time believing someone can tell a bucks exact age EVERY TIME! just buy looking at him?.Although i do agree a young 1.5 bucks for the most part is fairly easy to judge. But If you take a 2.5 yr old buck with poor or hardly any nutrition at all and bad genetics. Then look at a 1.5 yr old with good nutrion and good genetics a lot of time they can have simuler same size racks and very close to the same size body wait. Then judging this animal can be sometimes almost impossible simply buy looking at him?

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

Blodg, that was the only one in question. As I said I'm no expert at this aging thing. I can be fairly accurate, but honestly I need a good broadside look, or a good face profile.

I'll agree with your other estimates as I can't offer any evidence to the contrary.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I would say in our area that the bulk of 1.5 year olds range from 90-130 lbs and may be anything from a spike to a basket 8 pt ! Most don't have spread over about 12" and there racks are very thin !

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

110 lbs with junky racks spikes to little 6er's

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I agree with the rest that nutrition is the most important influence for full antler growth. Note that I said antler growth. A bucks antlers are only going to get as big as his genes tell it to, but nutriion will allow the antlers to reach their full potential. At the checkin station on opening day for firearms, I saw many 8 point basket racks from deer that were aged by the DNR at 2-1/2 yrs. Then a young kid brought in an absolute brute. It was a 160 class perfect 8 pointer. Everyone there was trying to guess it's age (anywhere from 3-1/2 to 5-1/2 yrs. Everyone was astonished to hear that the deer was 2-1/2yrs. I asked the kid where he got it, and he told me he got it on his farm. He also told me that he has 4 food plots set aside for the deer and that his buck was the third biggest on his farm. That just goes to show what nutrition means to deer and big antlers.

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

The top rack I think is a 1.5 the bottom two I think are maybe 2.5

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I'm pretty sure this is a 3.5!

How do I get multiple pics on the same post?

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I use body size to determine age. A 1.5 year old buck will be the about 120 lbs- the same size as the average doe here.

a 2.5 will be 150 - 160 lb, and noticeably longer.

3.5 Will generally be at least 180 lbs.

Anything after that is unpredictable, but you can bet any buck that weighs 180 or more lbs is going to get taken!

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

the 1 1/2old bucks in my area will be anything from scrawny spikes to decent little 8pts. ive actually got a pic of a 1 1/2 old that sports a nice 8pt rack with a 3-4in droptine already.
I'd like to see what he looks like at 3 1/2..

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

I hate to post a question on someone elses thread but I saw two bucks last year that stumped me. They were together in late october and they had to be twins. They looked about the size of a button buck and had spikes approx. 3 inches long. These were the smallest spikes I've ever seen , and to my knowledge a 1/2 year old buck doesn't grow spikes. So if they were 1 1/2 year old bucks they were either born late or had terrible genetics. Maybe it was both. Has anybody else seen deer this small with spikes?

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

C-WOODS,

Actually, this year I saw the same thing. I saw one deer that absolutely amazed me. It had to have been a fawn born this year as it was probablly less than 100 pounds live weight and it had spikes between 2"-3". It had to have been a yearling yet it was growin spikes!

RE: How big are the 1.5 old bucks in your area?
 

once it a while a yearling will grow a very small rack. my second year hunting I killed a yearling with little funny shaped 3in spikes. i saw a picture this year of a a yearling that had a little 4pt rack on him, just 2 spikes with little 1in 'brow' tines at the base