? For those of you who consistently grow 150+ inch deer

[Mikege1174]

For those of you produce 150 inch deer, what do these deer score by age class? If these deer hit 150 inches when it is mature (let's say 6.5 yrs old) what would that deer score at 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5? I know every deer is different and it depends on nutrition. I just thought some of you may have an idea of what you would want to see at each of these age classes. The reason I ask is because I have a couple of 3.5 yr olds that will probably score 125 to 130 and am wondering if they have the potential to hit 150, if I can ever get any rain.

[iamntxhunter]

Well for a fact you can never get them to 150 if you kill at 130.

[kyle1974]

If you have a 130 3 year old, and want 150', you need to let them go... that's not a bad 3 year old by any means, and reaching 150 at 5-7 years old is entirely possible.

[buckmastertexas]

Mother nature grows all my deer. I will ask her next time I see her.

There's got to be a smart@$$ in every crowd.

[q-all]

On our ranch in OK the bucks typically
Reach 150 at 5.5. Our good genetic bucks are usually in the high 30s to 40s at 4.5. Of course we always have a few deer exceed the 150 mark at 4.5 and some blow into the 160s at 5.5 too. But there always deer that never even get close to the 150 mark there whole
Life. In the past 2 years I have killed 2 4.5s , one was 138 and one 143. Once they get to 5.5. They get to 5 they get a whole heck of lot harder to kill.

This year we have a couple 150 class deer and one 4.5 stud that will be in the 160s. We also have a 6.5 old war dog
That may not even break 140

[Mikege1174]

I am planning on letting them go until at least 6.5 yrs old, so I will eventually find out. I was just curious if anybody had some pictures of what some deer that turned out to be 150 inch or over when it was mature looked like at 3.5 yr old. I have a picture of the deer I am wondering about but don't know how to post pictures.

[Mikege1174]

[ATTACH]428976[/ATTACH
Here is the buck at 2 yrs old

[Mikege1174]

Here is the buck at 3 yrs old. This photo was taken in the middle of July. He put on a few inches after this photo was taken.

[krausejmk]

Nice double main beam

[rtp]

I have never really tried to scored any of my younger bucks as I tracked them from year to year. The only thing I can tell you is that big deer are even big when they are little. I heard that somewhere and it stuck with me. In other words their racks always look big compared to their body size at any given age. The number one rule is to let them grow up if you want to have 150"+ bucks every year.

[HappyM]

I have a copy of a page out of a study that tracked 2000 bucks for 7 years. There is no reference on the page I have so sorry I can't point you to the paper. Anyway it shows deer that finish at different scores at 6 years old and tracks backward their size at yearly increments. Pretty cool data. The group that were at 130 as 3 year olds showed growth rates of 141at 4, 144 at 5, and ended at 150 at 6. The data implies to reach 170 at 6 the deer in their study averaged 150 as 3 year olds. I will see if I can scan and post.

[rtp]

I have a copy of a page out of a study that tracked 2000 bucks for 7 years. There is no reference on the page I have so sorry I can't point you to the paper. Anyway it shows deer that finish at different scores at 6 years old and tracks backward their size at yearly increments. Pretty cool data. The group that were at 130 as 3 year olds showed growth rates of 141at 4, 144 at 5, and ended at 150 at 6. The data implies to reach 170 at 6 the deer in their study averaged 150 as 3 year olds. I will see if I can scan and post.

I believe what you are saying but man that is interesting and surprising to me.

Of all the bucks I have been able to track on my place none have even been close to 150 as a 3 year old. I have produce several that are close to or exceeded 170". What I have seen is always a really big jump(25-30"s) from 4 to 5 or 5 to 6 rather than a incrementle increase each year.

[HappyM]

data

here is the data i was referring to.

[HappyM]

I believe what you are saying but man that is interesting and surprising to me.

Of all the bucks I have been able to track on my place none have even been close to 150 as a 3 year old. I have produce several that are close to or exceeded 170". What I have seen is always a really big jump(25-30"s) from 4 to 5 or 5 to 6 rather than a incrementle increase each year.

I have seen the same thing on our place but had this data from several years ago and though it was worth sharing. It was averages from 2000 deer so bet there was a lot of variation in individual animals.

[kyle1974]

I believe what you are saying but man that is interesting and surprising to me.

Of all the bucks I have been able to track on my place none have even been close to 150 as a 3 year old. I have produce several that are close to or exceeded 170". What I have seen is always a really big jump(25-30"s) from 4 to 5 or 5 to 6 rather than a incrementle increase each year.

This is what I've seen. Big jumps from 4 to 5 and another good jump at 7 or 8.