Deer age vs, antler size ?

[thirtythirty]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-26-09 AT 01:31AM (MST)[p]I am limited in knowledge in this area and had some questions...Can a yearling buck be bigger than a two point? Can a 1.5 yr old buck (2nd hunting season) be a 4 point? What have been your observations or knowledge? I am aware that genetics and nutrition also effect antler size. Thanks

30-30

 

[mmwb]

I can't say I know, but would say the answer to the first question is yes. Figuring a June birth, what we call a yearling is generally 15 or 16 months old by hunting season.

I've seen a lot of spikes and fork horns that are clearly starting their second year. I've also seen some three points and tall, wide, deep forked two points that are at least half again as large in the body that I also believe are the same age. Genetics I think has a lot to do with it. I see those big two points and think there are going to be some really nice bucks in a couple of years. I see those spindly spikes that look like they have 5" pencils rammed into their skull and want to shoot them to get them out of the gene pool. Saw one this year that wasn't much bigger than a german shepard. Looked healthy enough, but I can't see him amounting to much.

A friend of mine has a buck mounted that he shot several years ago in the Snowies. It is a nontypical. Probably 24" wide, tall and with a cumulative 27 points. Fairly heavy as well. The game and fish guy aged it and indicated it was probably a two year old. There are flukes. I expect some of the small four points we see are also just into their second year.

 

[ICMDEER]

A yearling is usually a 2 point. Some get to be small 4 point bucks, some are small 3 points. As a two year old, bucks with good genentics and decent habitat should hopefully be a small 4 point. As a 3 year old, most bucks will be light horned 4 points. When they reach four, they mature and can really get some antler development.

But some bucks will stay 3 points forever and some may even remain a huge two point for life. We just shot a management deer yesterday and he was a 24" fairly heavy 4 point, likely a 4 year old deer.

 

[swbuckmaster]

It has been proven in whitetail studies that you cant tell the genetic potential of a wild spike buck until it reaches maturity.

Usually a spike buck was born later in the year.


I have found you will usually have a 2 year old buck when you are looking at crabby 18"-20" 3x4 4x4. When they reach three years old you will start seeing what they might be capable of.

two points, spikes are usually 1 1/2 years old.

Archery is a year round commitment!!

 

[JakeH]

What your calling a yearling isnt even a year old yet and they usually dont have antlers yet. Most spikes and 2 points are yearlings, but I have seen a few really small 4 points be yearlings. I have also seen some 2 year olds that had some good horns on them.

I agree with Swbuckmaster on this one though.


Jake H. MM Member since 1999.

 

[Igottabigone]

My father-in-law killed a 24 inch super heavy and tall two point this year. The biologist at the check station aged him between 6 and 8 years old. He was gummin on his back teeth. The body was huge.

 

[stinky]

In Carlsbad, NM they have a desert museumm/zoo. They have the drops from penned up deer and they obviously know the age of the deer and they live their whole lives in the pen.

Now, IF, my memory serves me correctly (it has been about 13 years)...the deer they had was a 2, then a 3, then a 4 pointer, and from then on it was just a 3 pointer and a dinky 3 pointer at that. Keep in mind that it was being fed alfalfa pellets, or something just as nutricous, so that nutrition was not an issue.

It was a clear example that it is genetics, more than nutrition, that influences antler size.

John 14:6

 

[El_Matador]

1/2 year old deer are fawns, and once in a while the bucks will grow small spikes.

1 1/2 year old deer, like everyone has said, are usually spikes or 2 points, but occasionally sprout a small 3rd or even 4th point.

2 1/2 year old deer are sometimes the big 2 points, often 3 points or small 4 points. These are the 18" wide, spindly bucks that are obviously bigger than a yearling but still not very big.

3 1/2 year old deer are most commonly 4 points or 3x4s, getting to look like decent bucks by this age.

4 1/2 - 5 1/2 are pretty big deer.

6-7 they will be about as big as they will ever be

8-10 they will start to regress. This often means fewer or shorter points, but a lot more mass - and the points will hold their mass way out toward the tips. The buck I took this year was estimated at 8-9 years old and has clearly regressed. He holds his mass way out to the tips, and the tips of his main beams have almost disappeared into his G4s:

 

[mmwb]

"It has been proven in whitetail studies that you cant tell the genetic potential of a wild spike buck until it reaches maturity.

Usually a spike buck was born later in the year."

Always good to hear the actual biology. That makes sense, and hadn't occurred to me, that those wee little spikes were late borns. Into the winter smaller, later catching up. I suppose by the end of the second year, the difference would be met. Thanks for the education.