Old Bucks wayyyyyyy past their prime

[vpsalin]

Do you have trail camera pictures or harvests pics of old bucks wayyyyy past their prime? They can be difficult to identify for novices between young spikes and does!? How you do you tell if the buck is really old compared to other types of deer demographics? More experienced hunters then me tell me this deer I saw in 2018 was a very old buck in decline. Judging by the color of the face, chest and body I tend to agree but when I came face to face with him I judged him to be a young spike in the spur of the moment...

Do you have similar interesting images of very old bucks in decline?

here would be an actual young spike by comparison in our area.

 

[starvin]

That is a young deer imo. Our deer here a different mind you, lots of button buck fawns will have almost that much hard horn.
The attached picture is of the last buck my dad shot. It would have been in the early 90’s, after a long run of easy winters. Notice that his pedicles stayed large even though not much was produced above them. I’ve seen a few bucks over the years that “filled a truck box”, this was one.

 

[Scamaniac]

I don’t believe the buck in op first picture to be old and in decline. There is no tell tale swail in his back. Antlers do decline in old age but I’ve never seen them revert back to a spike horn. Old face is grey not heavy in colour or even black.

 

[Dogleg]

That’ s young deer. If you want to spot old age in an animal look at its eyes. The young are bright, round and glistening, full of life, hope and wonder. They look like babies with everything in front of them.

The old have lost much of their shine. Duller, wrinkled, sunken a little but these details aren’t the real story. They look tired, sore but not expecting sympathy. They look sad. They look like they have seen it all before, including people like you. They look like they’ve seen into the future and know they aren’t in it.

Windows to the soul.

Not much different than people.

 

[buzzmagoo]

Check thier junk if its high and tight = young and hung
Low and dangling out of oats !

 

[vpsalin]

I don’t believe the buck in op first picture to be old and in decline. There is no tell tale swail in his back. Antlers do decline in old age but I’ve never seen them revert back to a spike horn. Old face is grey not heavy in colour or even black.

Interesting...

 

[Kelly Timoffee]

That’ s young deer. If you want to spot old age in an animal look at its eyes. The young are bright, round and glistening, full of life, hope and wonder. They look like babies with everything in front of them.

The old have lost much of their shine. Duller, wrinkled, sunken a little but these details aren’t the real story. They look tired, sore but not expecting sympathy. They look sad. They look like they have seen it all before, including people like you. They look like they’ve seen into the future and know they aren’t in it.

Windows to the soul.

Not much different than people.

Why does this sound like a description of myself?

 

[fingers284]

Just a full grown mature W.T. that will never be a "wall hanger"...might even be a doe with horns. usually they are soft horned but have heard of one that was hard horned spike.

 

[vpsalin]

That is a young deer imo. Our deer here a different mind you, lots of button buck fawns will have almost that much hard horn.
The attached picture is of the last buck my dad shot. It would have been in the early 90’s, after a long run of easy winters. Notice that his pedicles stayed large even though not much was produced above them. I’ve seen a few bucks over the years that “filled a truck box”, this was one.View attachment 398781

I see your point, thanks for sharing. Very clear example!

 

[1963beretta]

I think those are young bucks. Anyone calling those old bucks in decline are just trying to convince someone else (or maybe themselves) that they didn't shoot a young spiker

 

[DVXDUDE]

I dont think many bucks around here get extremely old. Im talking 7+ years old bucks. I'd like to know the age of this buck. He obviously still had some awesome headgear but he had hardly any back teeth in his head, Although deer eat a lot of corn around here so that tends to accelerate tooth wear. Lightest colour hide I've ever seen too. Even his hooves looked wore down but he was a 300lb deer so I'm just speculating. I think hes older than his prime (5-7) years old. Has the curved nose (Roman nose sometimes called)

 

[vpsalin]

Wow such a cool Buck. At least 5 years old+

 

[hoytcanon]

Deer do not revert to narrow spikes as they age... the full surface of the pedestal still produces, but after peak maturity the antlers start to deform in configuration and mass. 30 years ago a friend shot a 10 year old buck that had a palated rack that looked like a mini moose rack.

The bucks in the OP's pictures are immature deer.

 

[DFarmer]

Deer do not revert to narrow spikes as they age... the full surface of the pedestal still produces, but after peak maturity the antlers start to deform in configuration and mass. 30 years ago a friend shot a 10 year old buck that had a palated rack that looked like a mini moose rack.

The bucks in the OP's pictures are immature deer.

I agree 100%

 

[Dukester]

I dont think many bucks around here get extremely old. Im talking 7+ years old bucks. I'd like to know the age of this buck. He obviously still had some awesome headgear but he had hardly any back teeth in his head, Although deer eat a lot of corn around here so that tends to accelerate tooth wear. Lightest colour hide I've ever seen too. Even his hooves looked wore down but he was a 300lb deer so I'm just speculating. I think hes older than his prime (5-7) years old. Has the curved nose (Roman nose sometimes called)

There was a mount in a deer camp I was in for decades that had a hide colour like this. I attributed it to the passage of time but maybe this was his natural colour? It was a huge symmetrical 12 point likely shot in the early 60's. Thanks for posting pic.

 

[starvin]

Here’s a trail cam pic of an old buck. Check out his eye as per Dogleg’s prose. Thanks for your contributions over the years Dogleg.

 

[tokguy]

This old guy was like trying to eat a shoe. He had a tired open walk to him for certain.
I thought he'd have had more points, though.

 

[vpsalin]

So concessus is that the base of the antler grows wider like rings to a tree stump overtime.

Old bucks don't return to spike horn with age.

Face turns white.

Nose turns blunt.

 

[fingers284]

I dont think many bucks around here get extremely old. Im talking 7+ years old bucks. I'd like to know the age of this buck. He obviously still had some awesome headgear but he had hardly any back teeth in his head, Although deer eat a lot of corn around here so that tends to accelerate tooth wear. Lightest colour hide I've ever seen too. Even his hooves looked wore down but he was a 300lb deer so I'm just speculating. I think hes older than his prime (5-7) years old. Has the curved nose (Roman nose sometimes called)

Is this photo from Ontario? I don't think Ontario has any Mule deer or sub-species of such, but that ol' guy shows more than one W.T. /Mule cross characteristic...a few forks on a mainly typical W.T frame and the grey "mountain Mule" hair coloring. Be interesting to see a Metatarsal gland photo of that guy.

 

[DVXDUDE]

Is this photo from Ontario? I don't think Ontario has any Mule deer or sub-species of such, but that ol' guy shows more than one W.T. /Mule cross characteristic...a few forks on a mainly typical W.T frame and the grey "mountain Mule" hair coloring. Be interesting to see a Metatarsal gland photo of that guy.

Southern Ontario. I'd bet everything I own he doesnt have ANY muley DNA in it. Just an old swamp warrior that my good friend shot. This buck was actually the loser of a fight 2 minutes before he shot it. I'd die to see the buck that put a run on this one