The ranch I bought a few months back has a pretty good black buck herd on it. There are several that have dark coats and are near mature. Then there is another 4 or 5 that are about a year away from being mature in my mind. I'm new to this though so I thought I would ask for some other opinions on these animals.

Thanks,
Tim

The first pic I think is like 18"-20"

Fixed the picture links and here are a couple more...

The very 1st pic in the fist post I think is like 17"

16"-18"

I would say nothing over 18" and the younger are a bit smaller I wouldn't shoot any of them this year. Just cause there black don't make them mature, that's most ranches and hunters biggest mistake and that's why they don't get to be that elusive 22" and bigger BB just IMO

+100

Let them grow. Blackbuck change color all the time, and the color is based ENTIRELY on dominance....not maturity.

My mother shot a VERY nice 21" free-range Blackbuck on a lease we had in Mason County years ago, and it was just as tan as a female. He just wasn't a dominant buck, and therefore did not have a dark coat. But he was very big, and had 3 1/2 curls.

I would give your bucks another year or two at least.

Usually the bucks we have around that color and size are getting close to 4 years old and anywhere from 17"-18" They will get darker when the winter months come if they are still dominant and because they grow a thicker coat of hair. But you probably need to let them pass for a while and see what happens. As they progress and get older and still maintain their dominance they will be able to achieve a much darker coat around 6 years old. They have to have age and dominance together to get that darkest coat possible.

17-18"

I think there are some close to 20" in these pics. For sure.

I don't think so....I think the biggest one out of these pics MIGHT go 17" or 18".

I shot a 20" a few months back. the 1st and 4th pic look just as big as mine.

X2 with Aaron i think a couple of those may go closer to 20 especially the fourth pic

Thank you for all the opinions. We have yet to knock down any of the black bucks to measure one. I have never taken a black buck and am excited about all of the potential on the place.

I'm glad to read Curtis' comments as I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. To me some of the very tan ones looked as big as some of the dark ones. I had heard that the dark coat comes with maturity and/or dominance so it is good to have it reaffirmed that dominance may mean more than age.

There are a couple of the darker ones that always seem to have a few does with them. One seems to have more than the others though. Then there is a large bachelor group that includes one or two of the darker animals.

We'll likely be giving just about all of them another 6 months or more.

Tim