Interesting Young Buck and Biologist Question

[El General]

And the same puncture on the shed buck.

[El General]

I think he is older than you think

The one guy who has seen him said he was slick and tight.

[rtp]

I believe I see calloused knees in the one pic where he is facing the picture. If so, that is definitely a post mature buck. Those old bucks can be very tricky to age if you dont have any history. I guess next year will tell. Hopefully he is a young buck with huge potential.

[GarGuy]

The shed deer is definitely the same deer. I would have called him 2.5 in the first pics. I get to looking at him though and there is just something wrong with that. He is a tricky one.

[RascalArms]

I think he is young...but there's something funky about that jaw. Almost as funky as that feeder lid!

Good looking buck, hope he makes it to next year. If so, you have your target deer sir.

[Brian H]

I'm going against the grain. I believe that deer is old. If he was 3.5, in my opinion he would still have more muscle tone even in late December. Odd deer for sure

[Chance Love]

He's old. Tell your friend to start kicking himself.

[Shurshot]

Cool brows. Nice young buck!

[texasdeerhunter]

I haven't seen anything in any of the pics that make me think that buck is older than 3.5. IMO, your buddy made the right call in letting him walk. I don't quite see 150 though, maybe mid to upper 140's, but next year he could be pushing 160 assuming decent rain fall this spring/summer. Good luck, I hope you start getting pics of him this next August and will be pleasantly surprised.

[Coach W]

He's old. Tell your friend to start kicking himself.

I'm in this camp as well.

I've heard older bucks shed their antlers sooner... Could be an explanation for late December shedding.

[rtp]

He's old. Tell your friend to start kicking himself.

I'm in this camp as well.

I try to ease the guy down this road and yall just want to shove his face in it, lol.

[super_dave]

I think he is older than you think

Me too. Probably 5.5 and having a hard time eating. Hopefully he didn't run himself down chasing and die like some bucks do.

[60 Deluxe]

I see that the Wildcat fire came through there too.

[tbgascorer]

Old buck. I see it in his face, his calloused knees. They revert back to looking young again, but they do leave a few clues to follow. Explains his shedding early and lack of tarsal staining. Younger, more dominant bucks doing the breeding. This guy just hanging with hogs eating some corn and taking it easy. I bet he is very docile in his old age. Garguy shot a very old buck this year that looked young, go look at his thread for another example of this.

[El General]

I see that the Wildcat fire came through there too.

Yep. Burned most of the place up.