Guess on age?

[Swamp_bucks]

No history with these 2 bucks.  Anyone decent at guessing age?
 

smaller body I’m guessing at 2.5-3.5? 
 

bigger one at 3.5-4.5? 

[mowin]

I admit, I'm horrible at judging age.  But 3.5 is my most likely wrong guess. Lol. 

[broomeguy]

Top one looks older than the bottom one. I would have guessed what you said. 

Is the top one piebald?

[Caeden4]

im definitely not great, and its tough to say based on body from nighttime photos, and hard to really get any idea of antler growth (width) from that angle. for what its worth, my guess would be 3.5 if it were in my neck of the woods, maybe 4.5 for the top one?  but we are in different regions and i have nothing to compare it to in your area where genetic/nutrition variables may cause different results.  

[Caeden4]

2 minutes ago, broomeguy said:

Is the top one piebald?

i was wondering that too but I figured its most likely just the lighting and graininess due to being a photo of a screen?

[Swamp_bucks]

2 minutes ago, broomeguy said:

Top one looks older than the bottom one. I would have guessed what you said. 

Is the top one piebald?

I’m not sure, it’s the 3rd time I’ve had him on camera and he looks that way in all of them.  Thinking this is the same buck. Still haven’t gotten clear pics of headgear to confirm what it is and to match him. 

[Swamp_bucks]

2 minutes ago, Caeden4 said:

im definitely not great, and its tough to say based on body from nighttime photos, and hard to really get any idea of antler growth (width) from that angle. for what its worth, my guess would be 3.5 if it were in my neck of the woods, maybe 4.5 for the top one?  but we are in different regions and i have nothing to compare it to in your area where genetic/nutrition variables may cause different results.  

Antler wise they are both good deer for my area, definitely not great deer for here but good ones

[broomeguy]

Visually estimating age of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) using physical characteristics, commonly referred to as “aging on the hoof” (AOTH), has gained in popularity as part of management programs. However, AOTH has not been evaluated in reference to its accuracy or the accuracy of its users; and most importantly, AOTH is an unstandardized method for estimating age. To assess accuracy of AOTH as it currently is applied, we developed an accuracy examination consisting of a series of photographs of 70 wild, known-aged, antlered, male deer from south-central Oklahoma, USA, ranging in age from approximately 1.5 to ≥7.5 years. We distributed a pre-assessment questionnaire and the accuracy examination to registrants from the 2009 annual meeting of the Southeast Deer Study Group and to select individuals known to use AOTH. One hundred six wildlife professionals that commonly used the technique completed the assessment and examination. Overall accuracy averaged 36% when placing deer into year classes (min. = 16%; max. = 56%). Accuracy tended to be greater for younger year-classes (1.5–2.5 yr); accuracy generally declined as age increased. On average, 62%, 43%, 25%, 30%, 25%,15%, and 31% of deer were placed into the correct year-class for the 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, and ≥7.5 year-classes, respectively. We provide the first known accuracy assessment by users of the AOTH technique. It appears that the AOTH technique lacks accuracy for placing deer into specific year-classes, which has implications for selective harvest decisions and research use. Accuracy may be improved by developing standardized protocols and criteria for using the technique and training observers.

 

Copied and pasted from online. 

[Splitear]

2.5 on the smaller one. 3.5-4.5 for the bigger. He's getting a bit of a saggy belly. It's hard to tell from photos though...

[Swamp_bucks]

4 minutes ago, Splitear said:

2.5 on the smaller one. 3.5-4.5 for the bigger. He's getting a bit of a saggy belly. It's hard to tell from photos though...

Hopefully I can kill him and get a better idea when I send his teeth in

[Splitear]

Just now, Swamp_bucks said:

Hopefully I can kill him and get a better idea when I send his teeth in

That would be awesome!

[2BuckBizCT]

Not piebald is my guess. This time of year I got brown deer, orange deer, and everything in between as they change coats. Night pics make them all look marbled.

[dbHunterNY]

26 minutes ago, Swamp_bucks said:

Hopefully I can kill him and get a better idea when I send his teeth in

definitely send teeth in. aging on the hoof while bucks are in velvet can burn you. also head down pics don't give a good idea of how low the neck connects into the brisket. I think they're two different deer. first seems 4.5 and second seems 3.5 yrs old. they will look a lot different leading into the next month.

[grampy]

Both those bucks would be shooters on our property. That's really all I need to know.

[Swamp_bucks]

11 minutes ago, grampy said:

Both those bucks would be shooters on our property. That's really all I need to know.

Same, the smaller body one my friend asked if I would shoot.  Told him it’s stateland I probably won’t let a 2.5 walk past