These pictures were taken of the same buck over a one month period. He's roughly a three to four year old buck even though he looks like a two year old. What's interesting about Black-tail deer in Washington is that fawns can be born early and late in the year. If they are born late they might not produce antlers until they reach two, at that point they will be just a spike. I have several pictures of a fawn born late previous year and it just started to produce antlers. The antlers have yet to pop through the skin.
This makes aging black-tail deer unique because based on antler size and points this buck would appear to be two years old. Body size also helps solve the mystery of age, but body size and antler size vary in different regions of Washington. The body size in the upper Kitsap Peninsula is greater and the antler size is definitely lacking. Truly trophy sized antlered bucks are highly sought after and extremely difficult to find. Personally I have seen trophy whitetail and mule deer, but only one black-tail buck.
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