Aging a buck by antler size.

[RKenSparc]

OK - First, before everyone start harping on how you can't use antlers to determine a buck's age. I know this - and I'm not trying to- sort of.

I have a friend from back east (big white tail hunter), and we swap hunting stories every now and then, not being very familiar with mulies he's interested in seeing some "typical" pictures of young mule bucks from yearlings up to 3 or 4 year old bucks. Mostly to just kind of picture in his mind?s eye what bucks in these age classes look like. I was hoping someone might know of a website with pictures (photo or sketched) that show this. Basically a simple comparison of what would be expected in a healthy buck with decent/typical genes.

I know, and he knows, that there is a lot more than age that goes into a buck?s headgear, and that as they get older, age plays a smaller and smaller roll. On the other hand we can be fairly certain a buck is a yearling based strictly on his headgear. A two year buck's age can still be estimated but with less degree of certainty, and by the time a buck gets to be 4 years old or older you really can't say anything about his age based on antlers. What I'm looking for is some pictures that are fairly representative of a bucks with their first 2 or 3 sets of antlers.

This isn't for anything more than just helping a guy get a better feel for young mule deer bucks, and I know the best way to judge a deer's age is with his teeth, but most of us will at least attempt a guess on a smaller buck?s age ? and we do this based mostly on what he has sprouted between his ears. So if you know where something like this is, would you mind pointing me in that direction?

 

[RLH]

i thought it was a well known fact that mule deer bucks got another point every year. spike, one year old. forkhorn, 2 years old. 3x3, 3 years old. 4x4, 4 years old. ain't that the way it goes?

 

[elk_horn]

NO you could have a 3x3 that is 6 years old...it has to do with Genetics..same thing with an elk...we took a 320 bull thats was 8 years old... you would think it would have been alot bigger .... the fish and game told us it wwas genetics.

 

[SureShot]

No, I think RLH is right. And a 3x4 means he's three and a half years old...

 

[SureShot]

I also heard the most accurate way to age a buck--especially old ones--is to saw through their antlers and see how many rings there are. One ring for each year.

 

[sneakem]

Its all genetics...a buck could be a spike or forked horn its first year...could be forked horn,four point or more on second year...Bulls are the same way, could be spike or have a couple extra's first year and could be a 3pt or 6pt bull the next year...thats why they take the teeth to age animals, teeth show wear and age........

 

[BigPig]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-17-05 AT 10:15AM (MST)[p]You cannot age a buck soley by its antler size. I killed a big 2x4 that was 8 years old. Last year my buddy killed a big 3x4 muley in N. Texas that was 11, yes 11, years old. Both these bucks were on the downhill side. A buck with good genetics can be a good 4X4 before its 4th year. And a one year old buck with good genetics should be at least a good sized fork, not a spike. Field aging of buck is done by looking at the face, is it old and grey/white? Does it have a sloping, roman nose? Does it have a sway and/or sloping back? Does it have a pot belly? Does it have stiff joints, especially in the back legs, where it makes the buck walk with a slow, labored gait? Does the deer look the way an old man looks? These are what I use to field judge the age of a deer. They usually start to show these symptoms after about 5.5 - 6 years or so. Then from there the symptoms get more severe. Antler size in not necessarily indicative of age.

 

[ansonlynn]

Mostly bad news, I'm afraid, though maybe some of the folks here can direct you to pics. I won't belabor what you already indicate you know, will give a few observations. I've had the privilege of examining over 1,000 hunter harvested bucks, had quite a few tooth-aged, and looked at tens of thousands of mule deer on winter ranges. I'd guess between work and hunting I've looked at over 20,000 mule deer bucks, from spikes to Booners.

In a local area only, and for a specific year only, I think your best indications of age from antlers is mass and roughness of the lowest few inches of the antler (ie, burs, spurs, bumps, etc). Yearlings are typically spikes or two-points, just a little bigger than yearling whitetails. Two year olds run from 2x2 to 4x4, usually slender antlers from base to tips, rarely have any abnormal points, and 12"-18" outside spread. They have smooth, pointy faces and slender builds compared to older age bucks. Beyond two years, it gets extremely variable, in general I would say H1 measurements (thickness above the base) increase annually, all else being equal (they never are, though!), until decline sets in.

Another factor: while females reach their full adult size at 2-3 years, bucks/bulls continue to grow throughout their life, until decline sets in. Lots of individual variation, but in general, the bigger the body, the older the buck.

To give some examples: in a couple of limited entry areas, with primarily nonmigratory "sagebrush" bucks on sandy soils, maximum lifespan of bucks was 8-10 years; if nothing else killed them, their teeth wore out and they starved by that age. After several drought years, which really impact low-elevation nonmigratory deer, we measured every field-checked adult buck killed by hunters: average age was 5.5 years, ranging from 2.5-9.5. These adults had an average 18" inside spread, 3.5" H1s, and 4.2 points/side. Drought, overgrazing, too many game animals on the winter ranges, and perhaps low phosphorus, all contributed to small, spindly antlers regardless of age. This was also an area where average winters are pretty severe, forage quality is only fair to poor, and deer really drive down their body condition getting through.

On the other extreme, I have experience with a migratory mountain range herd that went through a drastic decline 10 years previous, due to a 1-2 punch of extensive fires across the winter range, followed by a killer winter. The herd was decimated; buck harvest dropped 89%, and the entire herd declined at least 70%. Fast-forward 10 years, both habitat and herd recovery on a rapid pace, with the herd chasing increases in habitat. Virtually unlimited, high quality forage for every deer. Throw in a series of extremely mild winters, and suddenly the 2 year olds are growing antlers like "typical" 4 year olds; 4 point or better bucks scoring 120s-140s. 3 year olds with up to 30" spreads and scoring into the 170s. 4 year olds in the 180s, and 5+ aged bucks putting some into the book. Of course, not all the bucks have the conformation to score high, and some just don't seem to have the genes to grow as much antler as others.

I'm not sure why you are concerned with age, though. For most hunters, size of antlers, not age, is the key. If you will be hunting an area where you have the opportunity to look over a good sample of bucks without having to shoot the first legal buck you see (ie, limited entry or private lands), you can spend a few days learning the area's potential that year relative to your experience and hunting methods, and then take a representative buck. If not, I would not realistically expect to trophy hunt a hard-hunted area you've never been to before, particularly with little local mule deer experience; if you want to be successful you'd better take your first legal opportunity at any 2+ aged buck. If success is not a huge factor, you can view your first attempt into such an area as a scouting trip. Even better, go buy a nonresident bird license, make the trip, and hunt heck out of blue and ruffed grouse, do a little fishing, and learn some country; that way, you won't be wasting your opportunity when you do draw. Or, hire an outfitter, do a lot of phone, map and online research, swap a good local hunt opportunity for your area to a local from where you want to hunt, take a week PRIOR to the season start to scout, ... there's a lot of ways to do it, but it all comes down to investment if you want success - either your time and energy, your money, or both.

To try and answer the question, though it's gross oversimplification: in a "healthy buck with decent/typical genes", I would expect a yearling to have 1x1 to 2x2 antlers with less than 14" outside spread; a 2 year old to be a 2x2 to 4x4 with sleek, spindly antlers less than ear width, a 3-4 year old to be a 3x3 to 4x4 ear width or better and with bases at least the width of the eye, and 5+ aged bucks either outside their ears or very noticeably tall, bases thicker than the width of the eye, and with "character" - twists, bumps, gnarly bases, and nontypical points. I rarely see big, heavy eyeguards on younger bucks, though lots of older ones don't have them either.

Here's a healthy 3 year old buck from last fall with good conformation/genetics. (He's the one you want to let grow if you are managing for trophies, he had the potential to be a high-scoring buck in a couple more years.) 4x4 with average brow tines, 22" outside spread, 146 score. Smooth, symmetrical antlers lacking mass, modest body size, relatively slender face, somewhat "delicate" appearance, and low color contrast in the face/skullcap and muzzle/neck all indicate a young'un.

 

[ansonlynn]

Here's another: I estimate the outside bucks at 3.2, the inside buck at 4.2 (Early August photo). Note the greater facial contrast, larger eyeguards, and more swayed back of the middle deer. I also really like this picture because it shows the variation in ear widths! the one on the left is "average", the middle buck has small ears, and then there's Yoda on the right!

 

[Ridn9high]

We took a OLD boy last year off the ranch for mangement reasons ans he was a forky. His teeth were very worn, and DF&G said he was around 7-8 years old. I have seen bucks year after year abd they are still a fork, but the antlers do get bigger.

 

[wehunt]

I shot a buck in 1985 in Washington, it is 31 1/2" wide, has six points on one side and seven on the other. the main frame scores 190 and it has 17 5/8" of trash. It has decent mass from the bases to the tip of each point and some very long tines. I gave both front teeth to the game department to have it aged. It came back as a 2 1/2 year old. I questioned the game department on there findings and I was told it is 99% accurate.

 

[ansonlynn]

If that's correct, I'd say you hit the 100:1 odds. Too bad it wasn't an application for a special permit!

 

[RKenSparc]

ansonlynn - thanks for taking the time to type all that - your answer was what I was looking for. Great pics BTW.

 

[wehunt]

I shot this buck in the early season, I think it was oct 17th.
this buck had two other bucks with it all summer that were about the same size as it was, I aways wondered if they were triplets. That same year we seen a buck in the same area that I feel would have scored over 210, the genetics in this area are incredible. I have only hunted this area a couple of times since, but have always seen nice bucks. I have switched to bow hunting only in Washington and this area is very hard to bow hunt in.

 

[cabinfever]

I agree with most of whats been said. Genetics play the biggest role. But in general, I think you can discrimate age to some extent by antler size. An exception to this would be the 295 non typical that was killed on the AZ strip that was aged at only 4 yrs old. A lot of bone in 4 yrs if you ask me.

Mike

 

[Boots2]

Kind of like aging a deer by track size?

Yearlings dont leave big tracks, and bruisers dont leave little dimples.

Older bucks, even 'forkies', will have bigger mass at the bottom. As I see it, mass gets bigger, though at different rates on diff bucks, each year.

VERY old bucks have concave burrs when they shed the antlers- seen it only twice out of hundreds of sheds.