Crockett County...age and score?

[RascalArms]

A friend just sent this pic to me. Sorry it's the only one I have.

I say he's still young (4.5) and this angle doesn't help gauge spread. What says the GS?

[RascalArms]

Bumping to the front page.

[JMalin]

57 up top
85 inch frame (might be a tad generous)

142

[hcshooter]

I can't get him over 134 , any better pics?

[icetrauma]

I know it's a bad angle but he could be barely at the ears for his spread. He's got potential for sure.

[RascalArms]

57 up top
85 inch frame (might be a tad generous)

142

85 down is fair for the area. Age?

I know it's a bad angle but he could be barely at the ears for his spread. He's got potential for sure.

Yeah only pic...but spread only measures once.

No history on this deer unless he took a heck of a jump this year. Any guesses on age?

[icetrauma]

Yeah only pic...but spread only measures once.

No history on this deer unless he took a heck of a jump this year. Any guesses on age?

I'll guess 4. Brisket looks like it's starting to really develope. The only thing that might make him appear older is that fat belly he's got on him.

[KingsX]

Possibly a really old buck

[txwhitetail]

Possibly a really old buck

Tough pic to go off of but Im with KingX could be 6-7 years old with some of those features.

[RascalArms]

Tough pic to go off of but Im with KingX could be 6-7 years old with some of those features.

I sure wish we had a better pic but I don't see any sway in his back. He does have a belly and his brisket is definitely pronounced but his face seems too tight. Most mature bucks in our area get that drop Roman nose.

This guy is hard for me to read.

[KingsX]

I sure wish we had a better pic but I don't see any sway in his back. He does have a belly and his brisket is definitely pronounced but his face seems too tight. Most mature bucks in our area get that drop Roman nose.

This guy is hard for me to read.

The buck I killed this past season looked just like this bucks body type. First glance I thought 3-1/2 old but after watching him for a few minutes I knew different and shot him.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0K1jORBLbE kinda looks young right? Then the LDP Some bucks just look like that and every area has several different genetic body types. Buck ended up 7-1/2 old and didn't weigh a whole lot. Previous years buck I killed weighed #205. I've been around this many times and you do need more pics to be sure but most people miss these type of bucks on age and I do too. I've had several though over the years that look 3 or 4 and end up a lot older on the ground. Just off a quick glance this buck reminds me of some of those type bucks we've had in the past but I could be wrong for sure. Features are not a good way to judge mature bucks all the time especially post mature and that's hard to explain other than you just get good at guessing on certain looks a buck has that are just a little different from a 3-4 yearold normally. The ones that have the obvious mature features are easy to judge
Fine line between making that call on a possible 3-4 yearold that could be older. Passing him up is the safe thing to do if bucks usually get bigger racked in the area but if he's near the top of a trophy class buck in the area it may be ok to take him either way. Just throwing some stuff out there that we run into every year and have learned over the years some of those type bucks are older and recognizing that has helped us make decisions on some deer that we thought couldn't be old enough before. Just food for thought and not trying to debate it's worked for us recently since some of us have started getting good at recognizing the tricky body type bucks do exist. Wish I had a way to explain how I do it but I don't because everyone of those type deer are very challenging mostly taking a lot of pictures to judge them correctly. Most importantly finally making decisions at 18 yards in person on how old they probably are.
The few bucks that end up in this category do not mount up to much of a accomplishment as a whole when recognized and killed but to the hunter that got it right I guess. The only reason I posted or brought this up is most the time a guy can't kill a buck because of age guesses and a lot of times the buck is actually old enough. I always try to educate myself and my fellow lease members on this kind of stuff so less mistakes are made and also in a few cases a opportunity missed. We don't miss very many opportunities nowadays and make very few mistakes but it took awhile to get everyone on that page. Like you said it's very tough on one pic to tell someone else what a bucks age is so he can figure out what to do. That's why I said he's possibly a older buck. If they can learn that type of stuff they may be able to tell if a buck is young most the time or possibly a tricky old buck sometimes and capitalize on them. Takes time.

[RascalArms]

The buck I killed this past season looked just like this bucks body type. First glance I thought 3-1/2 old but after watching him for a few minutes I knew different and shot him.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0K1jORBLbE kinda looks young right? Then the LDP Some bucks just look like that and every area has several different genetic body types. Buck ended up 7-1/2 old and didn't weigh a whole lot. Previous years buck I killed weighed #205. I've been around this many times and you do need more pics to be sure but most people miss these type of bucks on age and I do too. I've had several though over the years that look 3 or 4 and end up a lot older on the ground. Just off a quick glance this buck reminds me of some of those type bucks we've had in the past but I could be wrong for sure. Features are not a good way to judge mature bucks all the time especially post mature and that's hard to explain other than you just get good at guessing on certain looks a buck has that are just a little different from a 3-4 yearold normally. The ones that have the obvious mature features are easy to judge
Fine line between making that call on a possible 3-4 yearold that could be older. Passing him up is the safe thing to do if bucks usually get bigger racked in the area but if he's near the top of a trophy class buck in the area it may be ok to take him either way. Just throwing some stuff out there that we run into every year and have learned over the years some of those type bucks are older and recognizing that has helped us make decisions on some deer that we thought couldn't be old enough before. Just food for thought and not trying to debate it's worked for us recently since some of us have started getting good at recognizing the tricky body type bucks do exist. Wish I had a way to explain how I do it but I don't because everyone of those type deer are very challenging mostly taking a lot of pictures to judge them correctly. Most importantly finally making decisions at 18 yards in person on how old they probably are.
The few bucks that end up in this category do not mount up to much of a accomplishment as a whole when recognized and killed but to the hunter that got it right I guess. The only reason I posted or brought this up is most the time a guy can't kill a buck because of age guesses and a lot of times the buck is actually old enough. I always try to educate myself and my fellow lease members on this kind of stuff so less mistakes are made and also in a few cases a opportunity missed. We don't miss very many opportunities nowadays and make very few mistakes but it took awhile to get everyone on that page. Like you said it's very tough on one pic to tell someone else what a bucks age is so he can figure out what to do. That's why I said he's possibly a older buck. If they can learn that type of stuff they may be able to tell if a buck is young most the time or possibly a tricky old buck sometimes and capitalize on them. Takes time.

^^^Thanks for the post Jeremy^^^

See, to me, that deer in your pic has the typical "block head" look, with loose skin, grey coloring and what appears to be "rings" around his ears...dead giveaway of a mature deer.

This OP deer is definitely at the top of the class of potential in the area and won't get a "pass" from any of the guys...if you know what I mean? I'm just afraid I can't PROVE he's older! There hasn't been a LIVE sighting of this guy but it's good to see him (although nocturnal) just to see the "potential" that exist. It may keep someone from getting trigger happy on a younger deer.

I've always told the folks I hunt with...you have to hunt in areas where BOTH the POTENTIAL exists to harvest a big deer AND he's allowed to GET OLD ENOUGH to reach that potential.

[JMalin]

It's tough to grow them big without large amounts of land and management minded hunters in that part of the world. We face the same issues in Edwards county to the south of y'all. I wouldn't assign that buck an age until I saw him in person.

[KactusKiller]

As far as age goes if I had to judge his age and whether to shoot or not based on that pic I would pass. Also if I didn't have prior history with him I would prob pass. Off that pic I would say 4.5 max but with that frame on his head he has the potential to be special... Real special!!

[RascalArms]

He's already reached "special" for sure. True 12s don't grow behind every tree in this area and he's close to being a true 14!