The ability to successfully estimate a buck's age before harvest is one of the most important aspects in a successful trophy buck management program.

The three most important aspects of antler development in white-tailed deer are: 1. genetics, 2. nutrition, 3. age. While oftentimes we spend the vast majority of our efforts and finances on genetics and nutrition, many times we overlook the third and simplest factor.

Many landowners would be better off improving their deer habitat and antler sizes by simply letting their bucks get a little older. The easiest way to double a 1.5-year-old buck's antler score is simply letting him grow one year older.

Research and experience has shown scientists that bucks reach their peak antler growth between 5 and 7 years old. Many of the bucks taken this season will probably be nowhere near this old.

Aging deer on the hoof is by no means an exact science. It takes into account many different characteristics, then making your best educated guess.

Factors such as observer bias, individual animal variation, health, breeding stage, geographic area, and so on and so on all will influence an animal's appearance. Much like predicting the age of people, physical evidence of maturity is what we evaluate.

Jason Byrd is the Lampasas County Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources. He can be reached at jhbyrd@ag.tamu.edu or P.O. Box 231, Lampasas or by phoning 556-8271, ext. 140. Young deer (less than 2 years old) will generally have long legs, long/thin necks, high flanks, rumps higher than their shoulder, and an overall slim/dainty appearance.

Middle-aged deer (3 to 4 years old) typically exhibit thick/muscular necks, necks that swell from the shoulders, heavily muscled hind-quarters, full but not sagging bellies and flat backs that don't sway.

Old deer (5 to 7 years old) often exhibit loose skin, swayed backs, pot-bellies, very heavy necks and shoulders, necks that bend into their chests, short/stubby legs and squinty eyes.

As you can see from the descriptions, aging deer on the hoof isn't a highly scientific process. It is as simple as distinguishing from teenagers (13 to 19), young adults (20 to 39), middle-aged (40 to 59), and older adults (60 and up).

A. Some people are naturally better at aging animals than other. Practice makes us better, however even the most skilled evaluators are fooled from time to time. By incorporating this simple practice into your operation, you might be just a few years away from a record-scoring buck!

So you think it is easy, do ya? Well, here is a little test.

Below are pictures of six deer, ranging in age from approximately 1.5 to 7.5 years of age. Test your skill and see if you can get them all aged correctly. Answers will be posted at the bottom of the article.

Trust me, it is harder than it looks!

Answers:

A. 2.5-year-old. B. 5.5- to 6.5-year-old. C. 1.5-year-old. D. 7.5-year-old. E. 3.5-year-old. F. 4.5-yearold.

B. C. D. E. F.