Surely this is one of the more difficult and vague indicators of age for a roe buck. They’ll also appear to be all legs. Our August article had 66 total comments, with 27 of them picking the correct age (5.5). Of the three major controlling factors in antler development, those being age, nutrition and genetics, the one we need to pay the least amount of attention to is genetics. If you guessed 5.5 years of age, you were entered to be one of our Age This Buck winners. It is a perfect opportunity to witness this yearly natural battle over territory first hand and to gauge the number and types of bucks on your grounds. They often reflect a very bad attitude, when compared to the happy-go-lucky whims of younger bucks. Once a buck passes 4½ years of age, his personality causes him to progressively shift from being a rutting machine to more of a survival machine. So come back and practice your aging skills anytime you like! I personally have experienced that using the antler size to estimate a buck's age is better than jawbone estimation in most cases, when comparing those individuals familiar with tooth and antler wear in a give region. The longer a buck lives the less inclined he is to throw all caution to the wind and pick fights with every buck he encounters. As the month progresses, the roe buck will become more and more territorial. It takes on-the-ground management through habitat enhancement, food plots and/or supplemental feeds to provide the deer on your property with high quality food sources, but harvest management is necessary for removing the right deer and the right time. GET BUCKSCORE. These images show you how to tell the age of a deer, but there's one important step to do first. 1980-1981 One dot on left side, two dots on right side. He was also a Pope and Young class 10 point, but just not quite the age I liked to target at the time. "Age This" Live! On the hoof, he looks to be a 3-year old deer based strictly on body shape, but I think he muscles up a bit in the next month. But along with beam length, coloration and antler mass, the attitude of a buck can really help you narrow down your estimation. That remaining 25% can be the difference between a 130-inch buck at 3.5 and a 160-inch buck at 5.5. They usually prance more boldly and their gait appears more powerfull. 23-Nov-20. Throughout your entire hunting life, you will probably not come across a mature roe buck who is jumping and skipping around the fields in careless fashion. In 2007 I thought I was shooting a real nice 12 point that we had on the land, which we thought was a 4 year old. How to Age a Deer. It comes from the fact that with each yearly shedding of the antlers, the coronet is affected. Regardless, there are bound to be a few mistakes made when it comes to judging a 150-class trophy buck. In winter, the hide will be a more muted gray-ish tone, while the buck in summer will sport a vibrantly strong coloured red-ish hide. When the buck rakes or rubs, tree sap and other fluids emerge from the scratches on the vegetation and will leave different colors on the antlers. An older buck will have a swayed back, sagging belly and dominant attitude. At 3 1/2 this buck scored in the mid 170s B&C. When a buck reaches 3.5 years old, you begin to see some notable differences from younger bucks—particularly in the chest and neck. With summer and winter seasons, deer shift color to match their surroundings better. 110 & 112 Models: 1974-1980 One dot on each side of model number. "Ground Shrinkage"; when it comes to targeting mature bucks, I have unfortunately experienced it! I felt pretty confident this buck would meet the first two, but I wasn't certain about the age. The best way to determine the age of a roe buck is by following it throughout the winter and spring. Each time you take the quiz you will be randomly given 10 different bucks from our question bank to age! Older bucks are more careful and watchful and are less likely to engage other bucks who wish to infringe on their territories. Another misconception is that you can tell the age of a buck by the size of its antlers. Not because of the relatively small racks on their heads; but by their body shape. QDMA 25,012 views. Such a buck could be a giant monster with over five years of age on the western side. You won’t learn if a buck is 3 years old or 4 years old. Mainly, because it is the only way you can assess the age of a buck while it’s still alive which should ultimately help you reach your management goals. I don't think so. First, if you don’t already recognize this antler from a buck that is familiar to you, go ahead and attempt to use it to estimate age. We aged his deer at 2 1/2 years old. It’s easier to classify bucks as young, middle-aged, mature and then really old (post-mature). I believe he was 3.5 years old, one year shy of my personal harvest goal for my WI hunts on the particular land we were leasing. The photos I received provide a rare and revealing look at these proportions. Ultimately, they resemble a doe with antlers. Look for a slim torso leading up to a slender neck to confirm their yearling status. To some degree the genetic potential of a buck can only be determined if he starts and then continues life under ideal nutrition conditions, and is allowed to at least reach 5 or 6 years of age. Food supply, seasonal effects such as a harsh winter and the general health of the deer population all affect the bodily structure of the deer. Mature bucks generally display a wider chest as well as they carry most of their body mass in the front parts which gives them a bull-like appearance. To find out the year of manufacture of your Buck knife, compare the symbol on your blade to the chart below. Only to make sure that I could place my pin on his chest, while ignoring everthing else. Reddog, you are exactly right, and that's also what QDMA advises: Every hunter should set a personal, local standard for the age of buck they want to harvest based on their experience level, personal desires, and conditions where they hunt. 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Should you however  come across a buck who struts and prances around well before the break of dawn in bright sunlight, with a radiant red-ish coat with tightly and high-seated antlers then it would be safe to conclude that he is one of the younger ones. For other methods that you can use to make sure you can make the shot in time, try reading about the "10 Second Bowhunting Rule". Bucks at 1½ years of age may have spikes or even small racks sporting 4×4 or more points, but few racks will exceed the width of their ears. But how often does that happen? In winter, the hide will be a more muted gray-ish tone, while the buck in summer will sport a vibrantly strong coloured red-ish hide. A major factor for using antlers to age a buck is that you use this method when the buck is still alive, on the hoof and approaching your treestand. * The BuckScore®️ program’s accuracy is contingent upon the quality of your photo, the accuracy of the reference feature, accurate buck information (age of buck and location by state), and the manual insertion of measurement points input by the individual. His hinder quarters are also much larger than his front shoulders but this will change to the opposite as he ages. Although online and printed materials to age a buck often revolve around body characteristics, I urge you to make an attempt to formulate a solid plan of attack for when the moment of truth arrives in the field. Simply by protecting yearling bucks and allowing them to live another year or two before harvest provides the greatest return on investment from an antler growth standpoint. A few keynote characteristics would be skinny frame and neck. Culling or elimination is often carried out during this time. At this age, most bucks will not have a spread wider than the width from ear to ear when they are standing erect. They’ll also appear to be all legs. In its third to fourth year, the bone structures roe deer will stop growing as the bone hardens and the buck will start to look more mature. If both of these characteristics are not present, it is a good indicator that the buck is more mature. As it typically does when hunting from a treestand in the woods, the buck was within shooting distance in less than 10 seconds. Please refer to this chart to find out the age of your knife.110 & 112 MODELS:1974-1980One dot on each side of model number1980-1981One dot on left side, two dots on right side1981-1986Two dots on each side*2002The anvil was used instead of model numbers (on all knives) this year only. Reportedly, Rebecca Buck was born on 17 January 1990.Therefore, as of now, she is 30 years of age.But, her birth sign is unknown. *Make sure to check out my whitetail book series including, "Whitetail Success By Design" and "Food Plot Success By Design", to help you find mature bucks this hunting season! 1/ Determine the age of your bucks. Once he reaches seven years of age, the more fawn-like facial features appear again and it can be deceiving to the observer. But I have to warn you from experience that often in the frantic few seconds that are offered to make a harvest decision on a cruising monster, you can easily make an incorrect decision. While it is possible to get an older buck with eight points on its antlers, you should use other relatable features to distinguish an older one from the youngsters. Sometimes called "Johnny Ride a Pony," the game of Buck Buck is a boisterous outdoor game perfect for the playground or picnic area. Having said this, in general as a buck matures his antlers will gain mass, darken in color, and widen. In my experience (illinois) those 5-6 year old bucks are the hardest to kill. The only real indicator of age is the calcium deposits located in a deer's mouth, called the teeth. 110 & 112 Models: 1974-1980 One dot on each side of model number. Usually, the defects due to bad genes will show around this age. Younger bucks often have a narrower stance and the legs will be markedly paralell to eachother. This is particularily true when you consider that most hunters are typically aging bucks up to 4.5 or 5.5 in the best case scenarios. The easiest bucks to judge are youngsters. They came from QDMA member Michael Heatherly, who captured them on an 800-acre hunting property in Macon County, Alabama. The nubs are the beginnings of antlers. Each time you take the quiz you will be randomly given 10 different bucks from our question bank to age! By age two, this tooth will be replaced with a two-cusped premolar, the lingual (inner) crests of which are sharp and pointed. Age matters for rack size as well. This is his first set of visible antlers. to submit your photos, Do this: • Get ready to send us an e-mail with the photo attached (You are welcome to send multiple photos of the same buck if you have them). These can vary naturally and are dependant on the area in which you hunt as well. Bucks with their first set of antlers are the easiest to age. Aging a buck using the number of points it has on its rack depends on the counting concept used to number the points. Something to note was that the study was completed by Dr. Mickey Hellickson and others at Texas A&M University, with a panel of 5 wildlife biologists completing the process of estimation. For European bucks, the more moderate calibers tend to be the best choice such as the 308 Winchester or the 7x57. When we hunt the same are for a long period of time, there's always that one buck or two that either stays out of our range or gets passed up each hunting season. The second-most important factor for keeping older-age-class bucks on your land, so you can harvest mature bucks every year, is to hunt the property the right way. In fact, I find many properties are focusing way too much on genetics when efforts would better used enhancing deer habitat and simply allowing bucks to get older before they are shot. At 81/2, her scored 215 B&C. Get a side view of the deer and … Dr. Mickey Hellickson is one of the most noted Whitetail Research Biologists in the country, so you can bet the credentials for the 5 wildlife biologists was at a very high level. Thus, if you encounter a roe buck in mid-may who has completely shed his antler velvet, with a deeply seated coronet and markedly gray tones to especially his face and overall hide you can pretty safely conclude that this is a mature buck. When determining the age of a buck, the name of the game is to first identify as many different pieces of information as possible and then to evaluate them accurately. I simply saw him chasing does from 50 yards out and closing fast, made a split second decision that he was mature, and tried to make a good shot. The button buck looks much like a doe though and is often confused by hunters in the field. The height and seating of the coronet are quite telling indicators of the bucks age. Hardly any hunter would criticize you for shooting a 3 1⁄2-year-old buck. Good roe buck management starts with age estimation and knowing your roe bucks. Simply by protecting yearling bucks and allowing them to live another year or two before harvest provides the greatest return on investment from an antler growth standpoint. Buck Knife production started in 1961. However when you add the attitude of a buck the accuracy jumps to a very high level! Typically 10 seconds or less. A 3-5 Years Old Buck. The symbols stamped onto your blade indicate which year your knife was made. If you check out the chart below that is provided by the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA), you can see that the accuracy for using the jawbone to age known-age bucks plummeted steadily from 79% for 2.5 year olds, to 18% for 6.5 year old bucks. A cull buck is determined after it reaches its third year. This simply is not true. This buck is a perfect example of why a hunter should learn to age bucks on the hoof — so the bucks can reach their full antler potential. 1981-1986 Two dots on each side *2002 This behaviour is only exhibited by the younger, less attentive and apprehensive bucks. Yesterday I explained that providing plenty of food and cover on your hunting lands year-round are the best ways I know to grow and hold older-age-class bucks on the property you hunt. Each method has it time and place, for example the Cementum Annuli process is a great way to age bucks within a hunt club, in particular when you can compare the findings to the real world personal following of individual bucks. Particularly during the day while the sun is shining brightly, providing full exposure to any predators. Please refer to this chart to find out the age of your knife. Thankfully, buck age structure is the easiest, cheapest, and quickest of the “big three” to improve. Field & Stream‘s Dave Hurteau explains how to do it. As roe deer mature in age their face will exhibit a dark or grayish patch that stars on the forehead and generally extends further around the face the older the animal is. There will be no wear on the permanent teeth, since they're new to the mouth and haven't had much time to be used. The buck in the first picture appears to be a yearling buck or 1.5 years of age. How Old is an 8-Point Buck? The best way to age a buck is by personally following his growth through the use of trail cams and individual sightings. Aging a Buck Based by Its Antlers Look at the length of its antlers. Injury to an inexperienced buck comes with a horned doe or one who believes she is being spurned in favor of another. Instead, when I found my buck that I shot under clear blue skies at 10:15am from less than 15 yards, he was the monster 15 point 5 year old we were after. Better yet when you get to know them on a personal level, you will find that their home ranges, rubs and scrapes narrow down their travel patterns enough to be nearly certain that the mature giant cruising towards you, is the buck you have been after for years. That is why it is important for the seasoned hunter to know his hunting grounds well not just from a topological standpoint. A younger buck, especially a strong one, will have almost no separation at the base with highly seated coronets. Hunters interested in the age-based harvest of whitetail bucks are interested in some level of deer management. On a mature buck, his antlers will generally be as wide or wider than his ears. This is his first set of visible antlers. Three-year-olds have finally bulked up with muscle, so look to see if the rump and chest are bulging and in equal proportion. With each additional year of age a buck's neck gets larger and connects lower on his chest until at 5.5 to 6.5 years of age the necks appears to flow seamlessly into his chest. I’ve always used antler bases as a good indicator of age; knurly, burled, growing close together, heavy and large are all good base indicators that you’re looking at an old mature buck. The many facettes to determining the age of a buck is a big draw for many hunters. You won’t learn if a buck is 3 years old or 4 years old. Jawbone estimation for bucks is the #1 method for State provided check-in stations for mass data collection, but is also the least accurate. Ted's Public Land Monster - DEER TOUR E33 - … After shedding, the coloring of the antlers is not a reliable factor for age determination however. About a week ago, I posted this blog introducing you to this buck, and I asked readers to give their best estimate on the buck’s age and how big he’ll get. Other physical characteristics which indicate a white-tail deer age include the size and rounding of the rump, whether the belly sags, and the presence of asymmetrical points on the antlers. Fortunately, the buck gave me enough time to confirm he would indeed meet all three criteria. While you can’t guarantee determining the exact age, there’s a good way to make a very educated guess.