Young Buck.

[J Darcy 5,871]

Not with the gun, just the camera. I would love to report that i was up with the larks, but there are no longer larks around here. But i was up early. I had finished stalking the ground by 6.15 and had seen hide nor hair of a deer. The buck i was chasing no where to be seen. It can be somewhat demoralising to a man to be constantly beaten by a particular deer. But should i ever achieve my goal the satisfaction shall be immense i have no doubt. After a fortnight of not seeng a deer i had to get a fix somehow, i was a roe junkie, i needed a fix. I needed the red-coated drug. The antlered opium.Locally i have permission to photograph deer on a few fields but not to stalk them so i had a quick ten minutes with the camera. Spotted a young buck from 200 yards away,checked the wind, snuck in to within 30 yards and rattled a few shots off. It was as easy as that. They sure like buttercups.

Thats the reason that roe are so addictive and the nemisis keeps drawing me back like a moth to the flame. Most of the time i can get pretty darn close to roe, but now i have met my match.

 

How old do you guys reckon this little buck is?

[LBJ 11]

Nice photo.

I would say he is 1 year old(maybe 2).

But my best guess is 1.

 

I often hear people saying its 2-3-4-5 or something years old, but after stalking roedeers for 30 years i dont think it is so easy as some people think.

Of course you sometimes can say its a typical yearling, but in my opinion you have very good skills if you just can tell if its young, middle aged or old buck.

[wireviz 8]

Nice pictur JD and i see he still has a wee bit of winter coat in him they sure are late this year.

[riggers 2]

i think about 2 mate

[Hannah4181 260]

Good shot homo.

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

Its difficult to age roe mate in years but its a young beast , probably a yearling maybe 2 years old at most !!

Edited June 24, 2010 by FOXHUNTER

[NO1 13]

i would think looking at the pic he is l of last years young

[Groach 7]

No help with the age but he's a fine looking buck in a loverly summer coat. Great picture

 

George

[martin 332]

Nice pic JD,and I reckon he's 1yr 3wks

 

Martin

[glogin 87]

A yearling

[mj robson 8]

Nice picture, they do love buttercups. They seem to go for all different types of flower, I once watched one standing up high on it's hind legs to pull Honeysuckle flowers growing up a deerfence.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[foxdropper 17,092]

Far too solid an animal to be a yearling or even a young buck .The back has a slight dip not seen in youngsters and the neck is far too thick .The fact that he is not fully summer clean, combined with other facts would say hes older than any of the other guesses.Antlers are squat ,a grissled face ,although not a clear sign of age by any means but i would say hes on the downward side of life .

Edited June 26, 2010 by foxdropper

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

Got to disagree with you on this one mate definitely a young animal ..Young animals have weak hindquarters and sharp angles at the pin bone above the haunch.Antlers themselves are no guide to age .Yearlings sometimes have 6 points and old bucks have been known to have short spikes.

 

Young animals have weak necks which thicken and shorten as they age.

 

Old animals also have sagging bellys with head held low.

Edited June 27, 2010 by FOXHUNTER