Old Bucks wayyyyyyy past their prime

[powdermaker]

Here is a nice mature Saskatchewan buck. I would say he is at least 7 years old at the time of this photo. This photo was from 2014. I didn't get any decent photos of him in 2015, but there was a marked change in him that year. His antlers appeared to regress but still scored almost 190 inches when killed in 2015.

 

[MiG25]

A few years back I saw a very large bodied Mule Deer buck with a herd of does, he had a large palmated 2 point rack. I'd have shot him in a heartbeat if not for the 4 point rule.

Although since he was the one with the does, I'd argue he wasn't actually past his prime.

 

[vpsalin]

Have you noticed older bucks tending to fewer does? The older bucks conserve their energy and defend smaller herd then younger bucks?

 

[Buckmastr]

A few years back I saw a very large bodied Mule Deer buck with a herd of does, he had a large palmated 2 point rack. I'd have shot him in a heartbeat if not for the 4 point rule.

Although since he was the one with the does, I'd argue he wasn't actually past his prime.

This is a big 2x2 we got a while back. He was in his prime but not growing any more points. He’s a neat trophy we often talk about when we hunt. I can only imagine how many eyes he poked out, or holes he stuck in other deer when he was fighting them.

 

[Slimbo]

That’s an impressive buck!!

 

[MiG25]

This is a big 2x2 we got a while back. He was in his prime but not growing any more points. He’s a neat trophy we often talk about when we hunt. I can only imagine how many eyes he poked out, or holes he stuck in other deer when he was fighting them.

That's a keeper for sure... but not legal around here.

The one that I saw was more like this (deer sized of course), but without the extra points:

 

[Buckmastr]

These are sheds from an old WT that lived near me. Thick bases as starvin mentioned.

 

[Underthegun]

Here’s an old guy I watched for about 4 years. This was the last year I ever saw him. I only saw him once in person. I was in the stand and ready to shoot, but there was to much brush for a good shot. The last picture is of him in his prime.

 

[coyoteking]

I took this mule deer with my 9 year old son along for his first hunt. As I was about to start field dressing him my boy asked me “why don’t deer have teeth?” I laughed and went and took a look in his mouth, all of the rear molars were worn down to the gum line, the front teeth were gone.

I boned him out for sausage and ended up with 150 lbs of meat. He must’ve been 350 lbs on the hoof. I had a heck of a time getting him loaded in the truck. Check out the size of his skull plate compared to the mature whitetail to the left. He was a big old boy.

 

[vpsalin]

Came across a video of this buck. He was aged in a lab at 10.5 years old with certificate.