I had seen this buck on opening day of muzzleloader season but passed him up. My Grandaddy (who shot the deer), has instilled in me QDM and letting the bucks with smaller racks go. Long story short, I had this buck cross the powerline I was hunting on Saturday morning but didn't shoot. About an hour later, he chased a doe in front of my Grandaddy who shot him. He thinks this a 4.5 year old deer and was not going to get any bigger, but I disagree. He had a really big body but still had growing to do on his headgear. What do you guys think?

I'm used to the northern deer body size so that thing looks tiny to me...The rack looks like a nice 1.5 or maybe a smaller 2.5 for us up north. Sorry, not much help, I'm just surprised by the size difference between the southern deer and the northern deer.

I understand. South Georgia deer are known for being small.

I dunno bout his age, looks small to me. We've got a lot bigger bodies up here. Looks like a nice 8 point tho, I think your granddad took a nice buck.
-Jake

no way to truely tell his age but, as your deer are similar is size to ours, I would say he is a 3-year old to 3.5 year deer. And they dont stop growing at 4.5. They will get bigger right on up til 6 or 7 years of age

is your grandad happy? thats all that matters

sometimes you gotta let go of this QDMA crap and just have a good time and remember what it's all about.

You have plenty of time in life to let em walk

if i was in georgia i would have shot him, still would have shot him up here too. nice deer.

He's happy, but he thought the buck was bigger, and he would have passed him up if he had known how big he was. And he is the one who taught me QDM, so it was a bit ironic that he shot this deer.

It's a very nice buck in my opinion. Had you shot it, you would have shot a very nice buck. SInce your granddad shot it, congrats to him. No reason to have regrets with a buck like that. If he's happy with it, that is what is important. Deer management is not a bad thing. UNLESS it begins to take the enjoyment out of hunting. Then it becomes a problem. So, if your granddad is happy, then it's a great buck.
-Jake

He looks like a nice 2.5yo would up here. Maybe 3.5 max.

But I don't care about QDM. I would have shot that buck. It's nice.

How much did it weigh? In our camp, weight of deer is just as big a deal as score. Although I would take either.