Age?

[hikingthehills]

I agree with Biker on this one, next year he will be a real nice one if he don't get shot!

 

[Joker82]

I agree with biker. 3 to 3 1/2 at the very most.

 

[GeauxLSU]

I just don't want to shoot him if he has potential for next year, but if this is as good as it gets then he needs to go. You can't see it from this angle, but the rack is nowhere near outside the ears. His outside spread is maybe 12".

Guarantee you that's not as "good as it gets" with him. Whether or not he'll ever be what you want is another question (and there's no way to know). If you shoot him this year, he'll definitely never get there. "Culling" deer on probably 99% of tracts in Georgia, especially if not co-op'd with thousands of adjoining acres, is really not practical. If you shoot him this year, I'm sure he'll taste just fine though.

 

[fuelman1]

I'm going with 3.5 as well. Body, neck, and head don't look big enough to be 4.5.

 

[MRH]

3.5. Good deer. The biggest problem with passing up 3.5 year old deer is the other hunters. You must pass them up if you want them to reach their full potential but unfortunately other hunters will shoot him if they spot him. Makes for a tough decision. He is a nice buck either way. I like tall racks. And you really can't pay too much attention to his spread. I have seen 160+ class bucks with 13 inch spreads. Spreads are nice but overrated when it comes to telling the age of a buck. If a buck has a 12 inch spread and 25" main beams, are you going to pass him up? Hardly...

 

[Shovelhead]

Is there another buck behind him????

 

[GreenPanther]

2.5- 3.5 years old is what I would say. Looks like some good genes though.

 

[Stol3n]

Let him walk if you can, looks to be around 3yrs.