Rod,
Its been 30 years since I hunted in OK but back then we checked deer in at a DOW station. Often there was a biologist present and I agreed to and later asked them to age the deer. They used a tool to pull the lower jaw and could age the deer by assessing the wear of the teeth. The most points I have ever seen on a year and half old buck was 10. Small rack but I was told that the buck had a lot of potential had it been allowed to grow up. I read somewhere that a buck needs to at least fork in its year and a half year in order to have good potential. If you can learn to age from the teeth ... you will be able to answer your question.
Back then I harvested all the bucks and does allowed with gun and muzzleloader. I hunted sandy soil blackjack country on a parcel my dad owned and lime country tall grass prairie. What I can tell you is that these habitats grew entirely different deer. In the blackjack country, the racks were basket shaped and much smaller and the deer were smaller too. Up north on the prairie the antlers spread and were much larger ... as also were the deer. Environment does make a difference, I think.
As a teenager, there were much fewer deer and my dad absolutely did not tolerate passing opportunities for bucks. It was driven so hard that I never overcame it and I always have harvested the best of an initial opportunity. The hunt, the kill, gutting, packaging, and eating make a pretty good experience too. But of course the most memorable are the couple I harvested that had impressive racks.
