Antlers as an Indicator of Age
Filed under: Ask Grant, Deer Biology
Dr. Woods, What are the biological reasons that a mature buck with large, developed, symmetrical antlers and 22 inches of main beam length barely has one legal brow tine and nothing on the other side? All other characteristics point to a mature deer (size, brisket, etc.). It just makes judging a mature buck that much harder! Buzz
Buzz,
The length of a buck’s brow tines seems to be more of an individual characteristic than an indicator of age. Body configuration is usually a better indicator of a buck’s age than any characteristic of his antlers. That’s why I use the shape of a buck’s body much more than the configuration of antlers to estimate age.
Growing Deer together,
Grant
