Anybody Ever Have a Younger Buck That Was Crazy Big?

[tlh2865]

Now I know that crazy big for one person in one place can be way different than to another guy ten miles down the road. But having said that, I shot the biggest buck of my career this past season. I hunted him hard, put probably 4 times the hours planning that I did into hunting, and it paid off big, on my birthday no less!! This buck, he was different from any I have hunted before, smart, secretive, and big. By far the biggest racked deer I had ever seen, and several people near where I shot him agreed, big body on him too. First confirmed 200 lb deer I have heard of taken in my neck of the woods for maybe 12 years. Buck had 27" beams, 5" bases, and good character in the tines. I had him pegged for an old deer, 4.5 at least maybe 5 or 6. Now I was excited about the rack sure, but the fact that I thought I had killed my oldest buck was what excited me so much about him. Low and behold he was 3.5 years old. A 172" three year old in an area that doesn't see scores nearly that high out of 4 and 5 year olds. Anybody have any similar tales, or a reasoning behind it?

 

[Paradise725]

I believe the Milo Hansen buck as well as the new NT world record out of TN were both aged at 3.5. Some deer are just genetic freaks and show it from an early age.


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[Ed K]

I freely admit I suck at aging deer, yet I don't think this one was very old.





I had hundreds of pictures of him over that summer. Saw him once in my back yard with a 12 point I would later take wit hthe bow, and he dwarfed it. Got some new neighbors that fall, that liked their ATV's. He vanished. I never heard talk of him or if anyone ever got him.
I would like to know what ever happened, but I doubt I will.

 

[Jeff H]

Anybody Ever Have a Younger Buck That Was Crazy Big?
I wish !! I don't even have older bucks that are crazy big !

 

[Blizzard Ridge]

I see it every year in my neck of the woods. I will see a genetically superior 2 or 3 yr old killed and of course the hunter is proud as a peacock. All I can think about is what would he have been in 2 or 3 years. I have two I am trying to baby through the next couple years to see what they do. We rarely hunt the area he lives in and hunt it from way outside his core to not pressure them. One is a 160" buck with triple brows on both sides and the other is a mid 50's buck with a third beam. The triple beam is known to be 3 and the triple brow buck was believed to be 2 maybe 3. Had they died last season I would have been sick. They have the potential to blow into something special but only time will tell, they could also end up being exactly what they are for the rest of their lives too.

 

[Mortenson]

Does anyone have sheds or racks from what is presumed to be a very large yearling, 18 month old rack, that they want to share pics of? I'm kind of torn on what a yearling is capable of in the wild. I have a lot of yearling sheds picked up over the years, but every once in a while a deer kinda makes ya wonder.

 

[tlh2865]

Had they died last season I would have been sick.

I understand that, thats how I felt when I found out, took about two weeks to shake a constant nauseous feeling.

 

[boot]

The door I shot this year was by far the biggest I have ever taken, but I think he wasn't even 4. It comes down to genetics, nutrition and not getting killed.

 

[j-bird]

My son was born nearly a month early and still came in at 10.5 lbs......does that count!!!

 

[buckdeer1]

I am still waiting on last years buck from deerage.How was yours aged?

 

[tlh2865]

Tooth aged. Good friends with my taxidermist too and I asked him what he thought, and he said the same thing.

 

[Baker]

Couple of things. For tlh2865, why do you think your deer was young? Tooth age? If tooth wear showed 3.5 it is very likely he was older. I haves aged countless known age bucks and starting at 3.5 it is safe to assume they are at least 1 yr if not older than classical tooth aging technique. Tooth wear simply is not accurate starting at 3 and thereafter. Nor is sending teeth of to a lab perfect. We've done numerous tests on that method as well. Again, deer are almost older than teeth indicate. Now if you know the buck and have followed him that is a different story.

For ED K that buck is a super star! Agree he is young though I hate aging summer bucks. Nonetheless that is the buck you want to see at 6-8.

 

[g squared 23]

Yes, my grandpa killed a wide, massive, tall deer of a lifetime. The lady at the check station tried to tell us (based on his teeth) that he was 2.5, at most 3.5. How accurate she was or not aside, you also see the opposite where 7 year olds are killed and don't hit 120".

I think we shouldn't get hung up on age just like we try to not get hung up on numbers/inches. Certainly managing for a certain age class is great, but if we shoot a deer that we'll be happy with taking and made the hunt enjoyable, then regret should never enter the equation. Shooting an occasional 3 year old especially a "special" one should be celebrated instead of regretted.

I honestly miss the days of bowhunting when I was happy to get a shot at ANY deer, even a button buck. This antler and age obsession has started to sour things for some people. It ruined a previous hunting club I used to frequent because it made everyone competitive and no one was happy for one another. Grown men turning into jealous @$$h0(€$ is a pretty sad sight. This is supposed to be fun.

 

[j-bird]

I thought about getting several deer aged but what is it really going to do for me? Any deer wide as his ears is "on the list". My goal is to top the bucks I have on the wall - some years that happens other years it doesn't. I don't really care if they a 3 or 7. My odds of a B&C buck is about zero so I try to be happy with something more realistic. If the buck gets me going then that is all I need.

 

[Seabee]

The two best scoring deer that have come off my place were confirmed @ 3.5 years. BOTH weighed around 175lbs which is very light. Most deer we shoot dress 200+. I don't much care about age. If I see a 160" deer with spots, sucking on its mommas teat, I'm pulling the trigger!