Hill Country 10 age

[SwampBuck]

Going on my 5th year hunting the Hill Country, I can pretty easily judge between young, immature then mature deer. And for our place just sticking with shooting only mature is good enough. We don’t feed protein and it’s all low fence so I try to just be realistic. But I like to fine tune the best I can.

What’s TBH’s thoughts on the age of this buck? I want to make sure I’m on par.









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[SouthTexBow92]

Looks like he's 3.5 at the very least. I would probably go with 4.5 and score somewhere around 140"

Definitely a mature buck in my opinion.

[SwampBuck]

I have pics of him last year also.
He’s definitely put on some body mass this year. Antlers got better too but I still think he has another year.

4 - 4.5 is what my gut says.

[Calfroper81]

4.5 and 133"

[solocam_aggie]

I'll say he's 5. I would bust him if I were you!

[deerplanter]

The night pictures make him look 5 to me but the day pics look 4. Either way I would give him a pass this year but it's your place.

[Capt.Brown]

Prob 5, mid to high 20’s

[SwampBuck]

Him last year.





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[deerwatcher51]

4.5

[climatecrisis]

High 120s. Its a good Hill Country buck.

[bigbad243]

Where ya hunting? Looks a lot like where I hunt. I think is is 4.5

[JakeM]

Id say 4.5, If i new there was a low chance for him to be killed i might let him walk another year.

[SwampBuck]

Originally Posted by MillsJake

Id say 4.5, If i new there was a low chance for him to be killed i might let him walk another year.

That’s the kicker. I wanna give him another year. Hopefully he sticks to the script he has been following and doesn’t go hopping fences.

[gingib]

4.5.

No way he was older then 3.5 last year

Perfect cull! Shoot him

[hog_down]

cool looking feeder!

[88 Bound]

He looked older until you posted last year's pics. That deer is 4.5.

[SwampBuck]

Originally Posted by 88 Bound

He looked older until you posted last year's pics. That deer is 4.5.

Yessir. Agreed

[walker1983]

slight chin flap - some belly - i think he's 4.5 or 5.5.
Looking at last years pic - i'd lean towards 4.5 this year.

[8pointer]

4 for sure..... especially after you provided last year’s pic.

[russ_wit91084]

4.5

[warrington]

He’s mature

[BDavisBaker]

Looks like 4.5 to me. maybe 3.5 but not older than 4.5

[-HIC-]

Looks like a mature hill country deer 4/5 and I would say mid 20's.

[Big pig]

Originally Posted by walker1983

slight chin flap - some belly - i think he's 4.5 or 5.5.
Looking at last years pic - i'd lean towards 4.5 this year.

Same. Hard to tell sometimes

[ShaBow]

Originally Posted by BDavisBaker

Looks like 4.5 to me. maybe 3.5 but not older than 4.5

This! maybe mid 20s (short beams short brows) but has good potential. I’d definitely let him walk to see what he becomes at least another year.

[Hoss163]

Looks 4.5 this year !

[Patton]

With the addition of last years pictures, I'm 100% in the 4.5yr old group as well. Has the potential to be a hill country stud in a year or 2 or 3. I'd try to keep him around a while, but whack him if he gets you excited!

[MASTERS]

Yours looked 5 till you posted last years pic. He's 4 for sure. I have some that did the same thing this year. Blanco county. These were 4 yr olds and this year as known 5 yr olds they looked like they skipped their 5th bdays and look 6 body wise. Has been a good year in the hill country for horn growth....

[SwampBuck]

Originally Posted by MASTERS

Yours looked 5 till you posted last years pic. He's 4 for sure. I have some that did the same thing this year. Blanco county. These were 4 yr olds and this year as known 5 yr olds they looked like they skipped their 5th bdays and look 6 body wise. Has been a good year in the hill country for horn growth....

The grass and browse is a lot greener than I’ve seen on our place in the passed five years. The bodies look healthy, antlers are hit and miss depending on the buck though. But we also don’t supplement

[bowhunterhelm]

3 or 4.

[Hayek'sPupil]

tight belly. long face. 3

[SBurk]

4.5

[SwampBuck]

Few recents of him. He’s being pretty consistent at the feeders. Hope he keeps that up and stays in this area like he had been and next year he may be more of a target.


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[TXbowman]

Where in Gillespie County are you hunting. Looks similar to my old lease

[ETX_REAPER]

I think hes 3.5 last year, 4.5 this year. definitely good genetics in him

[bigbad243]

Originally Posted by TXbowman

Where in Gillespie County are you hunting. Looks similar to my old lease

Same looks like the same place/area I am on for last few years. PM if needed

[SwampBuck]

Initial pictures aren’t the best but pretty sure this is him this year. Looks like he may not have done much if not regressed a bit.

Thoughts?






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[SwampBuck]

My question now is…is he 5 or was he 2 in the 2019 pics and now he’s just 4?

I want to lean more towards a 5
Year old. From the rest of the herd what I’m seeing is a decent jump from 3-4 rather than 2-3. I honestly did not expect for him to taper off though.

Body wise he’s definitely one of the healthier bucks in the pasture though.

[solocam_aggie]

I think he's the same buck. Sometimes they regress for no apparent reason. The buck I shot last year was an 8 after a main frame 11 the year before. I think the buck is mature and would bust him.

[Etxbuckman]

I always felt like hill country deer tended to look younger than they actually were, which I attributed to their smaller body sizes.

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if he is 5.5.

[SwampBuck]

They’re definitely tougher to read than some places. I feel like I’ve gotten better with it than 5-6 years ago but I still question myself occasionally.

[mzurovec]

4-5. Nice deer!

[bullhead44]

just to be different, I say 4.25!

[SwampBuck]

Originally Posted by mzurovec

4-5. Nice deer!

Did you happen to see the previous season pictures. I bumped this thread from last season, now have 3 years worth of pictures of him.

[Bengs]

nice deer

[SwampBuck]

Gonna bump this back up.
Below are the cliff note pictures of this particular buck. Last year he seemed to take a dip… which made me think older if he was older than I thought to begin with.



The following pics are him this year. Definitely shrunk but body is still healthy considering the year we had.






Curious what y’all think he was age initially was all this time now.


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[MASTERS]

Originally Posted by SwampBuck

Gonna bump this back up.
Below are the cliff note pictures of this particular buck. Last year he seemed to take a dip… which made me think older if he was older than I thought to begin with.



The following pics are him this year. Definitely shrunk but body is still healthy considering the year we had.






Curious what y’all think he was age initially was all this time now.


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Been a tough year for deer in the hill country. They tried to eat us out of house and home. Just a little over 4” of rain has fallen in ‘22 in our pastures. The deer were looking slim despite protein feeding until the acorns dropped. That put some fat on them. Some bucks made jumps and some maintained/regressed a bit. I’d roll the dice and try him next year as a 6 year old if it were my place my feeder.

[SwampBuck]

It was a tough year. So I give em that.

Bare minimum this dude is 6 this year. I just can’t make him 5 any day of the week. This is the fourth year I have him documented on camera.

[MASTERS]

Originally Posted by SwampBuck

It was a tough year. So I give em that.

Bare minimum this dude is 6 this year. I just can’t make him 5 any day of the week. This is the fourth year I have him documented on camera.

My mistake, I meant to put 7 in the post above. Hunt him next year as a 7 year old was my intention. Good luck with either way with whatever you decide to do, age on a buck is just as attractive as his antler size to me.

[lovemylegacy]

That buck looks young.