Question for the DEER HUNTERS

[whbonney26]

I have been putting out my cam for the last couple weeks and started to notice this buck looking around. He looks to be an older deer but im not sure. His antlers are either broken, deformed or something.....?

I read that by September-October their antlers should be fully grown so that leads me to think they are broken rather than just not full grown yet. Can anyone possibly shed any light on this deer.

I know its hard to age one from some rather hard to see night photos but he has came in two different times and in the same spot and never gives me a side view.


Here are the best pics I have been able to get from this sneaky deer. The does basically roll around in the corn......this guy has not been caught in it yet.


Do you think he might have been the dominant buck at one time and is now old? Do you think he needs to be taken out of the area so other bucks can prosper?

Im not an avid deer hunter but have taken many deer before but this is a new area that a friend owns and we are trying to find out what is on the property so we can attempt to manage them.

 

[kz45]

The best way to age a deer is check their teeth, get him to smile next time and re post

 

[gunut]

Ground check him. But seriously, from the looks of him he is older. His belly is big and hangs low making me think he has a little sway in his back. Doesn't look like the horn is broken to me, looks like it just grows that way. Old or young he won't amount to much of a trophy. My advice is to take him out of the herd.

 

[old06]

The best way to age a deer is check their teeth, get him to smile next time and re post

LOL that was a hoot ....... Seriously I shot one some what like him last year one side was a small fork on one side and a broken what looked to be a 6 inch spike on the other but his teeth were worn and he had a sagging gut

 

[whbonney26]

I tried to get him to smile.....I guess he is just not a happy buck.

I know the teeth is a good way to age him. I was just hoping someone may have seen something like this before. I myself have never seen an old buck like this one.

 

[RickyT]

He appears to be a older buck judging from his size. I would weed him out. Although a dominant buck will breed nearly all the does, this guy will still sneak around and get a couple of them and pass on his inferior genetics.

 

[CZowner07]

I could judge better if it were a broadside picture, he looks like an older buck....as Ritten said I would kill him so he doesnt breed.
A guy on our lease killed this one last year and it had a funky rack, but never been shot before it was killed.

 

[Keller]

Nice sized deer for filling the freezer. Some bucks just have mal-formed antlers that won't improve next year. I'd cull him at the first opportunity.

Matter of fact, spikes and deer like these are about the only bucks I harvest anymore. Got myself a nice 8 on the wall, and can't justify taking anything not better than that.

 

[smith625]

He is definitely older and in decline, i agree get him out of your breeding pool.

 

[whbonney26]

10-4, I will try to take him out this season.