New Pic of Big 8
 

Upstate PA buck. Figuring he has about two weeks left to get some tine length.

I think he looks like he is pretty much done growing for the year. How old did you say he was?

Ive been following and was hoping his tines would explode this year but it looks like he may end up smaller than last year.

He is 4.5 this year. Here he is at 2.5 and 3.5

Looks like he may have peaked this year, any clearer images to see if he has an injury or anything that could explain a possible lack of growth?

I just looked through last year's trail cam photos. I have pics from July 24th. His tines are the same length as they are now and he did put on a couple more inches last year. So I think he will still get more tine length. He did increase spread and mass this year, though.

I can't tell on the mass having velvet in the new picture and not in the old. I wonder if he is maybe a year older than we thought. He seems to have really grew between what was thought to be 2 and 3 but that usually happens between 3 and 4.

I agree with rockport. In the picture of him when you said he was 3.5, he looks more like the 4.5 year old buck I shot last year. See how big he looks around the middle? I've always heard one way to tell if a buck is 4.5 or older is if he's potbellied, rather than having his chest taper inward.

I am only assuming that his smallest pictured rack is from 2.5 years old as it looks too thin to be a 3.5 year old's rack. I guess it's possible. We did have two bad winters. Coming off a mild winter this time.

If he was 5.5 and not 4.5, I would expect a pretty healthy rack, maybe prime?

Yeah I suspect you may be seeing his prime. Just an educated guess though and I could be wrong....Ive seen me do it.

Here he is last year in mid to late July. Name of picture is mid-July, but date of pic is July 24th. Date on trail cam is wrong. :D I'd say he still finished up nicely, even though he had shorter tines in that picture as well.

I think he looks closer to being done growing in this years picture than he does in that one.

No bulbous ends? :)

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Yeah but I really can't tell for sure on the fuzzy night pictures.

I'm pulling a camera that I got him on in the daylight last year. It's about a mile into the bush, so he's more comfortable there than a field. Hopefully some good pics of him there. I will post those on Saturday if there are any.