Aging Deer

Category: scoring-aging
Topic keys: buck-age

Current guidance

As of 2025-06-22, the most recent claim on this subject.

Mark Lester argues for prioritizing age over inches, preferring an eight-year-old scoring around 130 to a four-year-old scoring 160. Don describes how antler growth varies by year: one buck lost about 20 inches from its best rack at seven and a half yet remained a trophy at nine and a half, while in a later season every buck he tracked added inches regardless of age, unlike the prior year when mature deer held steady or lost ground. Don also cites writer Bill Winke on older bucks growing overconfident and easier to kill, advises that hunters aiming for five- to six-year-old bucks should see them standing out at age three, and says only two bucks on his farm ever passed seven and a half years old.

How the guidance evolved

• 2022-09-05 Mark Lester says he would rather harvest an eight-year-old buck scoring around 130 than a four-year-old scoring 160, prioritizing age over score. 47:50 — Episode #133 - Special Guest Mark Luster - Buck Forecast Part 2
• 2022-10-10 Don said the old buck lost about 20 inches of antler compared to his best rack at seven and a half years old but remains a trophy at nine and a half. 11:25 — Episode #138 - Hunting the Full Moon
• 2023-01-29 Don notes that outdoor writer Bill Winke has also written about older bucks becoming overconfident and easier to kill. 14:09 — Episode #154 - Dogs Running Loose on Don’s Farm. HE IS NOT HAPPY!
• 2024-05-05 Don advised that hunters targeting five- and six-year-old bucks should already be noticing those deer standing out at age three. 29:25 — Episode #219 - The Most Important Aspect of Hunting Whitetails
• 2024-08-25 Don says every buck he tracked added antler inches this year regardless of age, unlike last year when mature bucks stayed the same or lost inches. 7:12 — Episode #236 - Antler Genetics Follow Mother or Father?
• 2025-06-22 Don says only two bucks on his farm in all his years of managing ever made it past 7.5 years old. 65:38 — Episode #278 - Are Deer Getting Smaller?

Questions on this topic

• Joe asks Don whether older bucks, nine and a half or older, start letting their guard down, or if increased daylight movement is just happenstance. 13:00 — Episode #154 - Dogs Running Loose on Don’s Farm. HE IS NOT HAPPY!
• Terry asks whether an older buck’s easier killability is due to personality/guard letting down, or because its core area shrinks to a smaller, safer spot. 17:29 — Episode #154 - Dogs Running Loose on Don’s Farm. HE IS NOT HAPPY!
• Bryce Bowling asks whether it’s rarer today to harvest a quality 8.5-year-old buck or a 200-inch buck, and why. 46:47 — Episode #148 - Are Bucks Shedding Antlers Early This Year?
• At what age does a buck typically make its biggest jump in antler growth? 29:00 — Episode #258 - Live Podcast from Mt. Hope Ohio
• At what age do most bucks reach their peak in antler development? 28:54 — Episode #112 - Chasing Giants in the Big North Woods
• Once a buck is an eight-pointer or ten-pointer at two or three years old, will he always stay that point count, or can he add points? 50:50 — Episode #95 - Live from Guthrie, KY
• Mike asks whether bucks in steep, rugged terrain reach a higher age class than bucks in flatter, more accessible farm country. 57:53 — Episode 237 - Cell Camera Spooking Mature Deer? Don Thinks Maybe So…
• Scott Hesselberg asked whether Don has ever let a buck live to 8-9 years old to see if it reaches a much bigger rack, as some hunting-industry figures claim happens. 58:28 — Episode #278 - Are Deer Getting Smaller?
• Greg (Saint Joseph, Illinois) asked whether Don has seen bucks over seven years old become noticeably more relaxed and easier to encounter with age. 60:02 — Episode #110 - Double Episode live from Master Class - Al Foster gives great advise
• A young man at Don’s Michigan seminar asked if three-and-a-half-year-old bucks there are equal to five-and-a-half-year-olds in states like Iowa or Illinois. 25:18 — Episode #96 - STAY OUT OF THE SANCTUARY!
• Kenneth asks why mature deer didn’t get the same antler growth boost from good conditions that younger deer got. 49:06 — Episode #236 - Antler Genetics Follow Mother or Father?
• Thomas Stein asked Don to walk through his decision-making process for choosing when to kill a buck on his farm. 53:30 — Deer Velvet Shedding & Fall Buck Shifts: Don Higgins Responds to Rumors | Chasing Giants Ep. 289
• Fred Zink asked how to know whether a three- or four-year-old buck is likely to grow into a larger 170-180+ class deer. 71:51 — Episode #58 - Burning Native Grass Tips and Great Questions from 3rd Master Class
• Matt asks Don and Terry to detail how they manage their farms while keeping human intrusion to a minimum. 49:35 — Episode #70 - Fathers Day Talk along with comparison of the Hunting Industry and the Drug Cartel
• Terry asked whether the buck Don killed on November 3 was seven or six years old. 15:58 — Episode #39 - SPECIAL EDITION - DON SHOOTS ANOTHER GIANT! 2 Bucks = 400”+ of Antler in 2020
• An audience member asks how common it is for a buck to regain antler inches lost in a prior year. 51:16 — Episode #260 - Live From the Legends Roundtable - Midwest Sportsmans Classic

Unofficial fan project. AI-synthesized from public episodes; may contain errors.