Age, without seeing antlers?

[ArcheryAddict]

Yes to your graphic as others have pointed out. Also, they get a lot of wrinkles around the eyes and ears, a sway back and at a point will look like a 55 gallon drum on short legs, will no longer look like a stout race horse. And black stained hocks. Neck and shoulder where they come together will fade together, not a real distinct separation in the muscles. Head will look "blocky" where the height from chin to forehead will roughly be equivalent to the length from ears to nose. Think of the term "long nose nanny" for does. In bucks that goes away with age and looks like a block.

[Pistol]

Yes to your graphic as others have pointed out. Also, they get a lot of wrinkles around the eyes and ears, a sway back and at a point will look like a 55 gallon drum on short legs, will no longer look like a stout race horse. And black stained hocks. Neck and shoulder where they come together will fade together, not a real distinct separation in the muscles. Head will look "blocky" where the height from chin to forehead will roughly be equivalent to the length from ears to nose. Think of the term "long nose nanny" for does. In bucks that goes away with age and looks like a block.

This photo doesn't show his hocks to be black but I agree he seems to meet all the other components. He is one of the few nice bucks on the place. This photo shows his antlers branch out. Most have a left branching antler that goes straight up, making it very difficult to improve the herd because of AR, they cannot be legally taken.

[Walker]

Hocks will get dark during the rut

[ArcheryAddict]

This photo doesn't show his hocks to be black but I agree he seems to meet all the other components. He is one of the few nice bucks on the place. This photo shows his antlers branch out. Most have a left branching antler that goes straight up, making it very difficult to improve the herd because of AR, they cannot be legally taken.

I know he didn't in the photo, those comments were more along the lines of other metrics to consider when aging a deer. Not so much specific to this deer in particular.

[MooseontheLoose]

There's some good information posted in this thread. That deer is closer to either side of 6 than he is to 3.

It can be hard to get an exact age on a deer unless you have a history of him with multiple years of sightings and/or pics. You highlighted some of the best and easiest areas to look for in the picture you marked up. Those will generally get you close on most deer, but nothing is 100% true for every buck out there, which makes it fun.

Some other things I look at are the overall head and eyes. Old bucks tend to have bigger, blockier heads and can show loose or wrinkly skin around the head/neck area. Some can get a wider, sunken in or cratered looking forehead. I've seen a lot of older deer with squinty or "tired" eyes, and sometimes they carry loose skin around there too. The hocks were mentioned earlier and that's something to look at as well around the rut. Younger bucks tend to not have the solid black staining all the way down their legs that the older bucks will.

I also look at the knees and the area between the knee and up the leg through the humerus/radius area. Older bucks tend to be thicker through that area than younger bucks. Down south, a lot of the older bucks will get callouses on their knees. A callous on the knees isn't an exclusive indicator though, as I've seen a couple of 4 year olds with them too. Once the bucks start building their neck muscles some old bucks will have rolls through their neck or up around their ears.

Something to keep in mind through all of this, is that not one single indicator is 100% indicative of an old buck. A deer that has just a sagging belly, or just callouses on his knees doesn't mean its definitely an old deer. I'm sure everyone has seen a younger buck that has had these "old buck" characteristics. Older bucks will generally have several of them and some could have all of them. Some don't have any which is where the history comes in.

We have two bucks in the hill country like this. One has a smashed in face, that, when viewed from the side, some would have called him roman nosed or cull as a 3 year old. He still has the same smashed face but got much larger with age. The other is a known old buck, but he has a smaller more slender body in general, and the only old characteristics he shows is a blockier head with a wide, big forehead. He wouldn't be identified as old based on trail camera pics.

Without a known history of a specific deer, the best we can do is to take a lot of these common indicators into consideration and make an educated guess. You may not get them down to an exact age, but you can get close, or at least identified as immature/mature. Compare the features of the buck in that picture to other bucks around, and some of those old buck features will start to jump out at you faster over time. Good luck

[Mexico]

There's some good information posted in this thread. That deer is closer to either side of 6 than he is to 3.

It can be hard to get an exact age on a deer unless you have a history of him with multiple years of sightings and/or pics. You highlighted some of the best and easiest areas to look for in the picture you marked up. Those will generally get you close on most deer, but nothing is 100% true for every buck out there, which makes it fun.

Some other things I look at are the overall head and eyes. Old bucks tend to have bigger, blockier heads and can show loose or wrinkly skin around the head/neck area. Some can get a wider, sunken in or cratered looking forehead. I've seen a lot of older deer with squinty or "tired" eyes, and sometimes they carry loose skin around there too. The hocks were mentioned earlier and that's something to look at as well around the rut. Younger bucks tend to not have the solid black staining all the way down their legs that the older bucks will.

I also look at the knees and the area between the knee and up the leg through the humerus/radius area. Older bucks tend to be thicker through that area than younger bucks. Down south, a lot of the older bucks will get callouses on their knees. A callous on the knees isn't an exclusive indicator though, as I've seen a couple of 4 year olds with them too. Once the bucks start building their neck muscles some old bucks will have rolls through their neck or up around their ears.

Something to keep in mind through all of this, is that not one single indicator is 100% indicative of an old buck. A deer that has just a sagging belly, or just callouses on his knees doesn't mean its definitely an old deer. I'm sure everyone has seen a younger buck that has had these "old buck" characteristics. Older bucks will generally have several of them and some could have all of them. Some don't have any which is where the history comes in.

We have two bucks in the hill country like this. One has a smashed in face, that, when viewed from the side, some would have called him roman nosed or cull as a 3 year old. He still has the same smashed face but got much larger with age. The other is a known old buck, but he has a smaller more slender body in general, and the only old characteristics he shows is a blockier head with a wide, big forehead. He wouldn't be identified as old based on trail camera pics.

Without a known history of a specific deer, the best we can do is to take a lot of these common indicators into consideration and make an educated guess. You may not get them down to an exact age, but you can get close, or at least identified as immature/mature. Compare the features of the buck in that picture to other bucks around, and some of those old buck features will start to jump out at you faster over time. Good luck

Yup good take. Without history I put them in 3 categories, Immature, Mature, Post Mature. And sometimes even that's hard.

[Walker]

Yup good take. Without history I put them in 3 categories, Immature, Mature, Post Mature. And sometimes even that's hard.

Thats really all you need to know. Exact age guesses are probably 50/50 at best.

[Pistol]

Thanks everyone. I learned a little here.

[Johnson]

So what y'all are telling me, these are the areas to consider?
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[ATTACH]1023425[/ATTACH]

Yep loose skin under chine and neck meets the brisket. He's 6 pluse.

[Tabasco]

Interesting thread I estimate 5.5

[brokeno]

Check out the book. Whitetail Chronicle.

[Dusty Britches]

7

[Chance Love]

Nothing at all says 3 or 4. He's definitely an older deer. There are about 1,000 things to look for when aging deer. And I can tell you that most of those things are not a 100% given on every deer of the same age. Lots of deer never get a sway in the back, or that giant sagging belly, ect. As others have likely said on here (didn't read all the responses) history is the best for aging.

[lovemylegacy]

Yup good take. Without history I put them in 3 categories, Immature, Mature, Post Mature. And sometimes even that's hard.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is the best way to categorize bucks. The buck pictured may actually be a very healthy 3 year old. No wrinkles, no scars, no "squinty" fat eyes. His back is straight, a slight hump on his shoulders, belly not really big or plump. He has room to grow. he may be 3, at best he is 4...far from mature.