Age and Score Test for you guys

E

Eric

New Member
Obviously I already know the answers and yes I know these angles are not ideal, but I wanted to give yall a chance to test your skills and knowledge. We have scored this buck and have net and gross B&C scores so give it your best shot. Also, I had several wildlife biologists age the jawbone and give me their best estimates. Afterward the front teeth were submitted to have a verified age determined. So I have two age estimates for this deer.

Either way I a super pumped about getting him. It was a 3 year quest.

Thanks for playing

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Okay, I will show how bad I am at this game. One thing for certain, that deer is a massive brute. Congratulations to you.

169 7/8 gross
6 years old
 
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Wow. That mass fooled me bad and when looking again I probably had the beams way too long. I figured I would be somewhat high but not that high. Is 162 gross or net?
 
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167 1/2", 5 years old? And congratulations on targeting a particular deer and getting him. BTW, is this a Canadian deer?
 
Native Hunter said:
Wow. That mass fooled me bad and when looking again I probably had the beams way too long. I figured I would be somewhat high but not that high. Is 162 gross or net?
Click to expand...

Net. I didn’t do any serious mental math but definitely looks in that neighborhood. That trail cam picture makes him look bigger so it’s hard to tell, I may be way off.


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I’m not much at scoring gross, and worse with net, but I’m guessing (wag) mid 160s and six to seven years old. Limitations on the age as they are not good aging pics, but you acknowledged that in the first post. I’m going on the “three year quest” comment and putting two and two together. Regardless, a very nice buck.
 
6.5 because you said you'd been hunting him for 3 years and I would think he would have needed at least 3 to get in that head gear department,

168 net
 
willy said:
6.5 because you said you'd been hunting him for 3 years and I would think he would have needed at least 3 to get in that head gear department,

168 net
Click to expand...

That’s a great point and good observation.

Spilling the beans yet Eric?


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Ok all - I first saw this deer in October 2017. On his right beam where the abnormal G3 point is - there were 2 smaller kicker points off his main beam. No pics or sightings of him in 2018. I had summer (velvet) pics in July 2019. I did not see this deer until late December 2019. Thats when I started hunting him. I shot him the Saturday between Christmas and New Years. He grossed 151 2/8 and had nearly 20 inches of deductions for a net score of 131 6/8. I had the jawbone (molars) aged by several biologists with the state. None of them knew what the others guessed. Almost all of them aged him at 4.5 years old. A couple said he could be 3.5. One biologist said he could possibly make an arguement the deer was 5.5 after I told him the story. I then sent the front teeth off the the lab in Texas that does the "official" ageing. They came back as 5.5. I really though this deer was 6.5, but I guess not.

Either way I am super proud of this deer. I had history with him so that always makes him special. It also shows how crazy (ridiculous) scoring can be....this deer would be entered into the books at 131 inches but we all know he's much more than that. I have passed on many 130 class deer that were immature and I would never pass this deer as he is at or close to his physical peak.

Thanks guys - I learn something new each week reading your posts.

Good luck and stay safe

Eric
 
Eric said:
Ok all - I first saw this deer in October 2017. On his right beam where the abnormal G3 point is - there were 2 smaller kicker points off his main beam. No pics or sightings of him in 2018. I had summer (velvet) pics in July 2019. I did not see this deer until late December 2019. Thats when I started hunting him. I shot him the Saturday between Christmas and New Years. He grossed 151 2/8 and had nearly 20 inches of deductions for a net score of 131 6/8. I had the jawbone (molars) aged by several biologists with the state. None of them knew what the others guessed. Almost all of them aged him at 4.5 years old. A couple said he could be 3.5. One biologist said he could possibly make an arguement the deer was 5.5 after I told him the story. I then sent the front teeth off the the lab in Texas that does the "official" ageing. They came back as 5.5. I really though this deer was 6.5, but I guess not.

Either way I am super proud of this deer. I had history with him so that always makes him special. It also shows how crazy (ridiculous) scoring can be....this deer would be entered into the books at 131 inches but we all know he's much more than that. I have passed on many 130 class deer that were immature and I would never pass this deer as he is at or close to his physical peak.

Thanks guys - I learn something new each week reading your posts.

Good luck and stay safe

Eric
Click to expand...

almost all the biologists put the deer at 4.5, which would mean you could have started hunting him as a 2.5 year old. Based on your knowledge of what he scores now, what do you think he would have scored three years ago when you started hunting him?
 
I'd be interested to see the score sheet of this deer if you have one.

Those tines and main beam must be a lot shorter than I thought.
 
Bowhunter said:
I'd be interested to see the score sheet of this deer if you have one.

Those tines and main beam must be a lot shorter than I thought.
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I'll look for it. We have a digital score sheet we use here at work so I am not sure we printed it out. We score hundreds of deer a year so we are pretty dead on with the scores. They're not "official" scores only because we dont have time to go through the P&Y scoring training but we work with those guys when we hold the big game shows. I'll re-score it and print it out. I think the main beams were 23 inches or so which is pretty typical for deer around here. Tine length was 9-11 inches.
 
A lot of deer in this class would have another 10" in brow tine inches. I was so impressed with this nice rack, I didn't mentally take the short brows into consideration. Either way, it's a trophy.
 
I don’t ever score my deer, so I’m never disappointed or surprised by the results. I have general categories of buck such as “good one”, “stud” or “monster/jumbo”.

I shot my best one ever this year, my first legit “jumbo”. Nah gunna score it, cause I don’t care to. Guessed him at 5.5+ as I have 3 years of trail cam pictures, and that’s good enough for me.

That’s an awesome buck, I’d never consider passing one with that kinda mass and character.


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