I’ve read quite a bit about the larger and more prominen a tarsal gland is on a buck, the older and more mature the buck is. However, hunting this year I’ve observed one buck in particular on our farm that acts dominant around other deer, has back sway and plods along like an older buck but he hardly has any tarsal staining. I hesitated on whether or not to take him yesterday but ultimately decided not to because of his lack of tarsal staining. To me, his his body frame and language exhibit a mature buck (4.5 is my estimate) but his lack of stain doesn’t. did I make a mistake not shooting him or is tarsal staining always a sure fire indicator of a mature buck?

Thanks
-Edward