Antler Growth
 

How long does it take for a buck to grow into an 8 point ?

That is not a question that can be definitively answered. It depends on the deer, its breeding and food. Some deer will develope earlier than others. Some deer will never be an 8 pointer. Where I hunt there is a tremendous body size deer with an amazing and heavy spread. It has been a 4 pointer, two on each side for at least 5 years and I suspect will be a 4 point until it dies. In PA it need 6 points to take it in the zone I hunt, except for Jr hunters, active military on leave and disabled hunters with a permit to hunt from a vehicle. I keep hoping my grandson gets a crack at him. I could have killed him a bunch of times.

Points have nothing to do with age. Some bucks are 8ptrs when they have their first set of antlers at 1.5yrs old. There are small 8s, medium 8s & sometimes "Oh My Gosh" 8s!

Determining age "at first glance/on the hoof" takes practice & even then is rarely 100% spot on accurate.

http://www.qdma.com/articles/aging-bucks-on-the-hoof

http://www.agingdeer.com/

Even using the teeth after death is not 100% accurate. In an old deer, many times all you can say is"the deer is at least this old. The soil type must also be taken into consideration using the teeth because sandy soil wears teeth faster than loamy type soil.

I have 6 acres to hunt, it backs up neighboring land that's Un touched and plenty of farm land as well.
What I can tell from trail cams, I have a small group of deer. 4 have been taken since 2011 and I might have 3 to 4 bucks, 7 and 8s and 3 to 4 doe with two yearlings.

The deer that have been harvested was 2 doe and 2 bucks , a 3 point and an 8.
The 3 point I think might have been a in breed, his horns were crazy looking.

How should I cull them ? My bucks now are 7 and 8 pointers that have some good height. Thanks !!!!!!

Forget about culling them. That is high fence high price deer hunting language because they get more money for large racks than small so they get rid of those that they don't believe will be large enough. You are hunting for sport, not raising deer for money so forget all the trash the TV experts spew about shooter, culls and scrub bucks. It is a bunch of babble and in my never to be humble opinion is ruining deer hunting because too many people have no knowegable mentors so they get their info from TV. Go out and hunt and enjoy yourself, kill the deer that makes you happy, buck or doe and make memories and stop thinking about deer in inches. From what you posted you don't have enough deer to worry about anything more than, how many can you take and still enjoy hunting the property, you certainly do not have too many and not enough to manage. As far as the odd rack, it s not unusual for a buck to injure the antlers while the antlers are soft growing resulting in odd looking antlers, in addition an injury to a deers body before the antlers grow can sometimes result in permanent mishappen antlers on the side opposite the injury. I doubt it is inbreeding.

Good point, never thought of that.
So your saying , take what we only need and more will take up residence ?

Yes sir, that is the long and the short of it, and enjoy yourself while you are at it.

I think Oldtimr hit the nail on the head and took the words out of my mouth just what I would of said. I have been hunting for 42yrs. now and have watched the old fashion deer hunting I grew up with go down the tubes with A/R'S and, TV shows shooting bucks the average hunter will never see in the woods. If you are thinking of growing deer like Lee and Tiffany Lacosky do on the outdoor channel forget it. you don't have the time or the money,or sponsor's like them. They have and are even teaming up with other hunters and buying farms just to shoot big bucks to promote their legacy. Go out shoot what is legal and be proud of whatever you shoot. that is what deer hunting used to be like.

Yes sir! I'm with you guys, I'm 43 and I'm partial to the old ways of doing things for the most part .
I just want to hold deer there and keep them happy and to multiply.

Thanks guys !