first shotgun deer....tell me its age (please)

nelly250

nelly250

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Thunder Bay, ON
Hey everybody,

This year i set up a Mossberg 535 Turkey Tactical with a 2-7x Burris scope for deer hunting. It grouped the best with Winchester 3-inch slugs so thats what i used. Anyways last night i went out to a spot I haven't been to this year and i had this nice buck come about 75 yards from me (im going to measure exacty tommorrow). I watched him for a minute, but then he stopped and looked in my direction so i took him. The shot was just behind the shoulder and passed cleaned through without hitting the shoulder. I didn't know if I hit him at first, so i took a shot at him on the run and then heard him crash in the bushes right away. He only made it 50-60 yards and died mid stride. I never did hit him with the second shot (but I did manage to get some scope eye). So can anybody tell me how old this guy is? The right side of his rack is smaller then his left, im wondering if he's one year past his prime maybe?

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/nlyon/102.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/nlyon/107.jpg
 
Looks like an older buck to me. The antlers are wide at the base and they look quite thin.
I'm not sure though, don't start sending me death threats. :D
 
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303carbine said:
A night time shot, flashlight hunting??
Click to expand...

more like a job and a half getting it out of the bush by myself and back to my buddies place (where he took the pics). After i managed to get this bruiser on the quad i made the mistake of trying to drive the quad up a pair of cheapo ramps that snapped and sent me, my quad, and my deer upside down and in the dirt.
 
102.jpg


107.jpg


Because I'm too lazy to click links...
 
I shot one a few years ago that looked very similar, he had grey hair on his muzzle and he walked like Nick Nolte. The deer has quite thick bases, but then his antlers thin out noticeably, I would say old. I bet his teeth are just about worn out. When you saw him did you notice if he looked like his back was kind of saggy, on mine the back line was really curved down. He looked at little like me, overweight, balding and greying.
 
If I had to guess an age I would say 5.5 years. Sometimes the racks are deceiving on some bucks due to genetics and their vegetation. I don't think he was heading for the old age home quite yet. Although now he's heading for the BBQ.:D
 
martinbns said:
I shot one a few years ago that looked very similar, he had grey hair on his muzzle and he walked like Nick Nolte. The deer has quite thick bases, but then his antlers thin out noticeably, I would say old. I bet his teeth are just about worn out. When you saw him did you notice if he looked like his back was kind of saggy, on mine the back line was really curved down. He looked at little like me, overweight, balding and greying.
Click to expand...


when i saw him i didn't notice anything odd about him, he walked and ran like any other buck i've seen. It wasn't until he was hanging that my bud and I started to really look him over.
 
If I were to guess, really guess, I'd go with 4 or 5 and 1/2 years of age. Maibe closer to the latter... seing he does have a bit of grey hair around the eyes. Let us know the results after pulling a tooth.

Also it must have been really hard to get that deer out of the bush... the deer isn't even gutted! You could have left an extra 40-50 pounds in the woods...

Congrats none the less.
 
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nelly250 said:
more like a job and a half getting it out of the bush by myself and back to my buddies place (where he took the pics). After i managed to get this bruiser on the quad i made the mistake of trying to drive the quad up a pair of cheapo ramps that snapped and sent me, my quad, and my deer upside down and in the dirt.
Click to expand...


Actually I was kidding about the flashlight, I forgot to click the :prazz icon:p
 
Furync said:
If I were to guess, really guess, I'd go with 4 or 5 and 1/2 years of age. Maibe closer to the latter... seing he does have a bit of grey hair around the eyes. Let us know the results after pulling a tooth.

Also it must have been really hard to get that deer out of the bush... the deer isn't even gutted! You could have left an extra 40-50 pounds in the woods...

Congrats none the less.
Click to expand...

well so far thats a couple people that think 5 1/2, i already brought the head to the taxidermist so i may not be able to confirm via the tooth method, but i'll be speaking with him so i'll share his opinion. In any event the age identification article was a good read. Oh ya and my pal and i follow the "shooter isn't the gutter rule" so he cleaned it up for me :D,....... but he got me back the very next night when he got a nice 8 pointer.
 
You should be proud that is a nice Buck.

you know deer are alot lighter if you gut them where they fall and they drag behind a quad easier then they carry!
 
Check the teeth... If there are no teeth, check for dentures...

Seriously though... Congrats on the deer!

Cheers
Jay
 
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