Liv4Rut
Active Member
What is your guys and gals definition of a mature buck? What age would you call a buck mature? For me any buck over 4.5 I would call mature but anymore, I'm starting think 5.5 or even 6.5 is when they start to reach their potential. Granted every deer is different and some just won't grow a big rack. Take my dad's late muzzleloader buck for example. We have a 70 inch massive 5 point shed off him, at what we think is either 3.5 or 4.5, then the next year nothing was heard nor seen of him, at either 4.5 or 5.5 years of age.
Then the next year we got a trail cam pic of him as a 170+ Clean ten pointer at an approximate age of 5.5 or 6.5, then the next year he shot him at either 6.5 or 7.5, Most likely 6.5 but could be 7.5 and he turned into a Main frame 11 pointer with an extra kicker off it's brow Grossing 188 non-typical. So as you can see he kept growing through the age that I always thought they were pretty much done getting bigger. Who knows what he would of been this year at either a 7.5+ years old.
I always hear people saying, I wait for a mature deer, but if you shot that deer of my dad's at a 3.5 or 4.5 that supported a 160 inch massive rack (that just by holding the shed it looks like a mature deer with all the mass) would you call it mature? Not knowing that he would add 30 inches in the next 3 years of his life? Or is the statement he is mature deer more of a reason to harvest an animal, even though you don't know what he will do? Now I know some of you guys that have your own farms, past sheds, trail cams, etc, will be able to determine which deer have reached their potential, but what about a new buck you nothing about, what age would you call him mature, if you only wait for deer that are mature?
This post isn't meant to start a big argument, I was just wondering what you guys think. Regardless of age, I go by the size of the rack, if it is a 160+ it is getting shot regardless of age, I don't have my own land, and I hunt public land, so that is a pretty good number for me to work with. But I am starting to think guys that shoot alot of bucks that claim they only shoot mature deer, have a number inside their head (score wise) that they will pull the trigger on and regardless of age call it mature, even though under most circumstances, there is no way to really know. So what do you think?
Then the next year we got a trail cam pic of him as a 170+ Clean ten pointer at an approximate age of 5.5 or 6.5, then the next year he shot him at either 6.5 or 7.5, Most likely 6.5 but could be 7.5 and he turned into a Main frame 11 pointer with an extra kicker off it's brow Grossing 188 non-typical. So as you can see he kept growing through the age that I always thought they were pretty much done getting bigger. Who knows what he would of been this year at either a 7.5+ years old.
I always hear people saying, I wait for a mature deer, but if you shot that deer of my dad's at a 3.5 or 4.5 that supported a 160 inch massive rack (that just by holding the shed it looks like a mature deer with all the mass) would you call it mature? Not knowing that he would add 30 inches in the next 3 years of his life? Or is the statement he is mature deer more of a reason to harvest an animal, even though you don't know what he will do? Now I know some of you guys that have your own farms, past sheds, trail cams, etc, will be able to determine which deer have reached their potential, but what about a new buck you nothing about, what age would you call him mature, if you only wait for deer that are mature?
This post isn't meant to start a big argument, I was just wondering what you guys think. Regardless of age, I go by the size of the rack, if it is a 160+ it is getting shot regardless of age, I don't have my own land, and I hunt public land, so that is a pretty good number for me to work with. But I am starting to think guys that shoot alot of bucks that claim they only shoot mature deer, have a number inside their head (score wise) that they will pull the trigger on and regardless of age call it mature, even though under most circumstances, there is no way to really know. So what do you think?
