Mature

BAM

That neck can make a 7.5 look 3.5 this time of year - I always look at the brisket this time of year. I'd say from this half a photo, 4.5 - 5.5

My thought initially was 3.5 to 4.5

I'm gonna guess at least 4 1/2. I believe his brow tines (long) are a good indicator too. Typical 8 that will never get much "better" than he is.

Well unless my eyes are playing tricks on me he appears to be a 10 point at least in that pic and has a lot more future potential.

I'd love to see a follow up picture of this deer late September. If this is Hill Country, which I suspect it is, I think he's gonna be older than many on this thread are saying. I don't think he is 6.5+ but I'd bet money he's 4.5-5.5 based on what I'm seeing in this one picture. Mostly because he looks 3.5 and they usually look way younger this time of year

Understand what you are saying. In school we were taught that this time of year was a good time to do counts and age as they are not yet carrying any winter fat build ups or pre rut musculature which would typically skew age higher than what is.
Also their coats are thinner allowing better observation of evidence of scars etc.
I always found, for me anyways, that it was easier to age south Texas deer and north country deer (Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas) than hill country deer.
3.5 to 4.5 aging on the hoof is always very subjective anyways depending on range conditions and the probably of supplemental feeding on body appearances etc. imho.
Field data observations and samplings have found that aging on the hoof usually skews to animals being aged older than they really are in many instances.
Maybe in the future, with the advancement in biotechnology, hunters will someday have a hand held, range finder type of advice that they can just point at a deer to know his age.
But then we would not enjoy our "what age is this deer" threads on TA.
Always enjoy your knowledgeable post ttha.

Right you are Gunny! Did not look close enough, but zoomed in, I too detected a typical 10, but I'm sticking with my guess. A fine representative and an excellent herd buck. Alas, he'll likely breed no more than 2-3 does per year. But a much better than average Hill Country buck, for certain.