I am not real big on hunting antlered deer only, because me personnally I like doe meat better. I posted a reply on another web page about a topic and in my post I made the commit that if a buck was mature I would take him. That kicked off a big debate on what a mature buck is and what determines a mature buck, ect....I stated that I don't like to shoot button bucks or small anterled deer.One guy on the site called me an idiot more or less because my ideaof a mature buck was not the same as his.Now I know antlers are based on genetics, food source and all that, so you can't judge the age of a deer by it's antlers. I was always taught that you really can only determine the age of a deer by it's teeth.

SOOO with out getting into any heated debate, what is a mature buck and more importantly for me, HOW do you determine the age of a buck or doewhile sitting in your stand 30, 40 yds away?

The only sure fire way I know of is to use the teeth. You can make an educated guess based on body size and mass for your particular area, antlers, or other factors like the size of the chest or a sway belly. For me I use that and other factors. If I'm meat hunting I look for any deer with an injury. If it's the first three weeks of the season I look for barren does, or does that I think because of body mass or other factors might be older, but then only take one doe per hunting location (or herd if I think there's more than one). If it's late Oct I pass on all does till after the rut. I specifically pass on fawns out of spots, yearlings, button bucks, and anything 6 points or less, or 8 points if it's a basket 8. Having said that if I think it might be a cull buck I might take them....for example I've taken a small basket 8 where one side of the rack was stunted and funky, or a spike that had spikes over a foot and never branched......I've had buds take 6 pointers that had such a big body in their judgement they should have been 8's (the assumption being they needed to be taken out of the gene pool since they don't have better antler development....they usually see these several time a season), or 4 or 6 pointers that were maimed...like missing a leg. But the objective is to take does for herd management and a good buck that is an 8 pointer or more and is 3.5 years old or older.

Now having said all that..............if it's been dry for a while and I'm worried about my additude I'll take a doe for meat (my wife's girl fiends have standing orders) just to keep my attitude intact....but I'll always let 4 pointers and spikes pass all day long.....is that a complicated decision matrix for ya? It's more complicated than how I pick women.......;-)

Deer Aging Tool















The quick, easy way to age your harvested whitetail deer. Simply match tooth wear pattern to one of the eight separate age classes (1-1/2 to 8-1/2 years of age). Molded from actual jaws on North American whitetail deer. Includes carrying ring, camo case and instructions. Also included is an 8 page field guide containing detailed information and photos to help you better determine the maturity of a deer before you harvest it.
[/align]











































Deer Aging Tool



Item:2UG-227551









$29.99



Qty:

































arrayIndex = null;
buildProductOptions(null, null, null, null, arrayIndex, 1);
listLength = arrayIndex;

Aging Deer

Duh!!!! Check its drivers license, of course!

If it dosen't have a drivers license just ask it's mama!!

Seriously, I've always heard the teeth is a good way to age a deer.

As for as the people in other forums goor any where for that matter, any body that chews you out for not hunting their caliber of game is of no concern,just remember you hunt to please yourself, no one else so
shoot any legal deer you want. That's what the season is for.

hard to really tell without looking at his teeth, look at his belly and shoulders,the bigger, the older,

http://www.timberwolfinformation.org/info/deerjaw/ages.htm