Age this buck...

[marksman13]

These are the only semi-clear photos I have of this buck. My best estimate is 5.5-6.5 years old. Mississippi deer if that helps.

 

[Rembrandt]

You may be right, in our area it would be three year old

 

[mcb]

I would have guessed 3.5 - 4.5.

 

[troy fairweather]

I'd say 3.5 maybe 4.5

 

[buck460XVR]

I too hafta go 3.5, at least from what I see around here. Hard to judge it's nose/face with the pictures shown and the "roman" nose is always a good indication of a deer past the age of 3.5. The pics seem to show a more "sleek" or "straight" nose. Still a good buck, but I would have to see the spread in order to dictate him a shooter, again since the pics do not give a clear view..

 

[Captcurt]

Don't see the swayed back or the paunch of an old deer. I have to agree with 3 1/2 - 4 1/2.

 

[Patocazador]

3 1/2 would be my guess. Let me see his jawbone and I can tell you for sure.

 

[ms6852]

I'm thinking a 3 year old. His shoulder need more muscles.

 

[Nature Boy]

I would agree with the consensus, 3 1/2 - 4 1/2, but I’m not very good at it. The guys I hunt with are pretty dang good at it but they see a lot of deer.

Really hard to tell without seeing the teeth.

The Taxidermist aged mine from this season using their teeth

This one was 3 1/2 (I would have guessed older)


This one was 6 1/2. The gray in the face kinda indicates his age but you can’t always go by that either

 

[sage5907]

This is what 5.5, 6.5 year or older buck looks like in my area. Notice the big hips, big paunch and the long legs. Sometimes they show a decided hump on the shoulders. I also would say your buck is 4.5 years old because it is small in the hips and paunch. I don't think 3.5 because of the large size of the neck and the muscles on top of his front shoulders. These guys are over 200 pounds body weight.

 

[WestKentucky]

Too bronze/brown to be much over 4. Others have commented on muscles, neck size, etc, but the last thing to look at is color. Young deer are bronze/brown and kind of have a glow in direct sunlight. Older deer typically have a more mellow color and often shows some color variation on the face and along the spine. No you can’t look only at color, but it’s a sign of maturity.

 

[red rick]

Ii would say he is coming up on 4. .

 

[Iwsbull]

I would have to agree with most everyone else and say 3 1/2.

 

[sage5907]

Too bronze/brown to be much over 4. Others have commented on muscles, neck size, etc, but the last thing to look at is color. Young deer are bronze/brown and kind of have a glow in direct sunlight. Older deer typically have a more mellow color and often shows some color variation on the face and along the spine. No you can’t look only at color, but it’s a sign of maturity.

I don't know about Mississippi or Kentucky, but here in Oklahoma deer can be several basic colors ranging from gray, gold, red, brown and dark brown. Like Forest Gump said, "you never know what you're going to get." Our deer heredity can come south from Kansas, west from eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas because of early transplanting, and north from Texas. Texas deer tend to have short hair which tends to be gray while northern deer tend to have long hair which tends to be more gold in color. Dark deer come from both groups. A long hair gold cape in good condition is like fine oak furniture. When I see a buck cape I immediately think either Texas deer or Dakota deer. As you said, young deer have more shine and glow in their coat while old deer hair is drab in color. When deer get old their faces tend to get gray and in some cases the forehead gets dark brown or redish brown. I do some taxidermy work so I pay particular attention to deer capes. In the pictures shown by Nature Boy it's plain to see the deer are related as the old one could have sired the younger buck. It looks like marksman13 has a short hair gray buck which usually don't change much as they get older. You made some good points.

 

[buck460XVR]

Nature Boy's two photos show the difference of a "Roman Nose" between a deer 3.5 and one 6.5. Rack size is not evidence of age, nor is the size of the neck during rut. Body size is based on nutrition and genetics, more than is of age once a deer lives past 3.5. Only way to know for sure without looking at the teeth(and even that is a estimate) is to watch the deer grow up.

 

[Captcurt]

I don't know about Mississippi or Kentucky, but here in Oklahoma deer can be several basic colors ranging from gray, gold, red, brown and dark brown. Like Forest Gump said, "you never know what you're going to get." Our deer heredity can come south from Kansas, west from eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas because of early transplanting, and north from Texas. Texas deer tend to have short hair which tends to be gray while northern deer tend to have long hair which tends to be more gold in color. Dark deer come from both groups. A long hair gold cape in good condition is like fine oak furniture. When I see a buck cape I immediately think either Texas deer or Dakota deer. As you said, young deer have more shine and glow in their coat while old deer hair is drab in color. When deer get old their faces tend to get gray and in some cases the forehead gets dark brown or redish brown. I do some taxidermy work so I pay particular attention to deer capes. In the pictures shown by Nature Boy it's plain to see the deer are related as the old one could have sired the younger buck. It looks like marksman13 has a short hair gray buck which usually don't change much as they get older. You made some good points.

I even had one with red eyebrows and forehead patch. I should have caped him out and put one of my better racks on it.