How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

I just wondered if people from around the country could give me a no BS idea of how big a 3 year old whitetail buck is in their area. How heavy and what PY/BC score is typical?

Here in western Montana, our 3 year olds weigh about 170-200 lbs. on the hoof, and net score about 105-120 B&C. In northeastern Montana, they might go 180-220 lbs. and score 110-125. I think the main difference is the eastern deer have more cultivated crops to choose from.

Between my brother, my mother, and myself, we've killed 6 bucks in the last five years that were all exactly 3 years old, so we've got a pretty good sample of that age class. Yet, we've never taken one more than 3 years old.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

3-1/2 in my area

130 - 160 dressed average (early season)

100 to 130"

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Sounds right to me.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

That sounds about the right range for antler development, our 3 year olds would probably be on the lighter side of your range. Maybe 150 lbs. or so!
Nutrition and weather conditions down here play a big part in weight and antler development! Deer across the highway from me, deer could be quite a bit different one way or the other!

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Well for our mulies a 3 year old dressed weighs between 175 and 200 and scores maybe 100"! little 3 points...

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Dirt2,

You want to know how to shoot bigger and older deer? Let them grow up and only shoot big ones. :) Let the little ones walk.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

According to biologists the hansen buck was 3-1/2 years old.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

A 3 1/2 around my area is going to go 175-200 dressed, and be pretty darn big. Probably score 120-140's.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

In my area of Central MO, they will weigh in range of 140 to 180 lbs. field dress. Antler-wise somewhere between 110 and 150 will include most them. There are always a few exceptions either lower or higher.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

the gene pool in illinois is such that you can have very large deer by the time they reach 3 yrs old; my 16 pt buck ws 3 1/2 scored 222 non-typical and wighed ovr 240 pnds field dressed, although this is not the norm, a good 3 yr old will weigh about 180 #'s dressed and score around 130 or better

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

You've confirmed my suspicion from hunting videos that bucks in KS, MO, IA, IL, etc. (the midwest) grow bigger at a younger age.

I have to say I question the genetics idea, though. Maybe it's a factor, but has it been proven scientifically? I think food quality has a lot more to do with it, with a dash of winter severity thrown in.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

i personally think genetics do play a significant role at least in west central illinois, for every monster buck you still see 10 pt basket racks that are large bodied deer. although the strong gene pool is probably due to several generations of well fed deer.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

I do envy the bucks you have over there. Our bucks need at least five years to hit the magic 140 number. However, a few years ago we had a legendary buck that was seen by numerous people including my parents, who are both hunters. That buck would have gone 170-180 on a typical frame, plus he had 10" drop tines. No one ever killed that buck and he's dead of old age by now.

Consequently, in the immediate area where that buck lived I am seeing bigger racks on younger bucks than normal. I saw my first 10-point rack on a 2 year old this year, so genetics has some effect I guess.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Food, water, stress, maturity all play roles in the antler growth but nothing is more significant than genetics. A dink bucks offspring will always be just that, while a trophy deer will produce trophy racks...sure year to year growth is suspect to the other conditions but the underlying factors is if he has the genes and is allowed to grow to that potential (maturity) he will have trophy qualtity horns. If you strap the best conditions and feed bag onto a deer with inferior antler genetics he will not be a trophy...plain and simple. So genetics plays a much bigger role than "I guess" when it comes to deer.

As to your question about 3 years olds weight and antler score that is also dependant on the same factors. While maturity isn't usually achieved till above this age which is when the bucks reach peak antler growth, cases such as the hansen buck do appear. Clearily this is a statement to this deer's excellent genetics to grow such tree trunks at the young age of 3 and should be viewed as the exception not the rule. I'd say it would be 120-140 score wise and 175 lbs fully dressed as guessed average for sask.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

In the famous Pine Barons of New Jersey.Probably the size of a large German Shepard.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Many different subspecies of whitetails exist in North America, so when comparing a buck from Sascatchewan (sp?) to a buck in Florida, the one from Sascatchewan obviously has better genetics for producing a bigger body and a bigger rack. With that considered, the single most important factor which determines antler size in any given geographic area is AGE. Age influences antler growth/size more than genetics, food sources, or stress. For example, a "dink" spike buck that is born very late in the year usually catches up to his peers and sports an equivalent (if not bigger) rack by the time he reaches 3 years of age. This would support the fact that genetics have very little to do with a buck's size. That buck possessed the same genetics when he was a year old that he had when he was 3 or 4 years of age... Genetics don't change over time.
Every credible source of information that I have read supports this thought.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

just guessing, but a VT 3 year old would be in the 180-220 lb dressed range, maybe more if you got him before the rut. score? what score, we don't need no stinkin score! score doesn't put any more meat on the table.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Our Pike County Illinois bucks weigh about 180-200 dressed and score 130-150.

Some a little higher, some a little lower.

Abundant natural food, whether through quality mast, food plots or a farmer's corn/bean field add up to good deer.

Good huntin'!

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Sure, I agree that good food is essential to grow big deer, but my point is you could feed one buck a high-quality diet from the time he is born until he grows his first set of antlers, and that buck's antlers normally will not be as big as a 3 year old buck's antlers that is eating an average diet.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Jimbo if you read my post I make mention several times about maturity level when determining rack size, so I will not argue age is very important. However genes are an underlying factor. It is unreasonable to think every deer that is allowed to reach peek antler growth(maturity) will grow trophy class antlers, they will reach their peek performance which is determined by their genetics from the onset but this in no means will equate to superior antler score or growth. Class them in the subspecies they fall into and you'll find dinks, average and trophy class mature deer. If age was the sole determination how would you explain a 3 year old that scores 110, 155 and 213 from the same subspecies? Genetics is certainly a large part of the equation to what that bucks peak antler growth will be if allowed to reach maturity.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

skeeter, I agree with your replies. You're absolutely right that genetics are an important factor. Heck, look around at a crowd of people the next time you're out in public. Like deer, some people are just plain huge and others are small. Generally speaking, they were all fed the same- some are just bigger than others due to genetics.
I did not mean to imply that age is the only thing that determines antler growth, I just think that it has the most effect on antler growth. If anybody wants bigger bucks, they have to let them mature.

RE: How big is a 3 year old buck?
 

Jimbo, I agree 100% with this statement.:)