Crossbow Success


fly

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Despite EHD taking a toll on the mature bucks the good Lord has blessed me with a fantastic season of which I am very grateful. I was fortunate enough to put a good shot on a buck that had made my hit list. Prior to posting the harvest pic and score I came up with I wanted to see what you all age and score this buck at based on the trail cam pics I had of him from July and November. So let's hear your estimates...

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Congratulations Frank. Very nice.

Tough to say from just those 2 side pics. Is he an 8? Definite shooter though. As an 8 if he had a 16 inch spread i would guess low 130's. Looking from my phone so small pics. Don't see enough of the body in the November pic for the ground clutter but looks like a little sag in the gut in that July pic. At least 3.5 but no older than 4.5.

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Not a lot of activity in the Xbow room, but thanks for your estimates. I too was fooled by the trail cam pics. I had placed this buck in the 130's as you all did but when I put the tape to him I only came up with 123 Gross 121 Net. I was shocked. Short brow tines hurt the score -or- I'm terrible with the tape (LOL). However, he was the first buck I have ever put on a hit list that I actually harvested so he'll get a place above the TV. I'm pretty sure i have a video of this buck from last year. I'll post a pic of him from 2013 as the last pic and you can let me know what you think. If it is the same deer he didn't grow much - a little wider and a little longer, but not much. As an 8 I doubt this deer ever would have made it out of the 130's. I'll get the teeth back in a couple weeks and I'll know the age. May be 4.5 - but I'm still thinking 3.5. I'll take this deer and my 12 point to the Deer expo next month and get an official score. Gives me a reason to go to to the expo.

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  • 1 month later...

I should have been clearer - I did get the teeth (and jaw) back from the taxidermist but I did not send them in to be verified by a biologist (yet). I was going to and then while reading a website on aging whitetail by cementum analysis I discovered the following statement on accuracy: "85.1% for white-tailed deer through 9 years old."

http://www.deerage.com/faqs.htm

At 25 dollars + postage (cheapest rate I could find - returned in 125 days or less) an 85% accuracy rate has deflated my interest. I'm on the fence about it currently - if I knew of a cheaper service I might gain some motivation. When looking at this 8 point his first molar (4th tooth) has a strip of dentine that is about the same as the enamel (maybe a little less, but more dentine showing than on the 2nd molar for sure). Given his body appearance and molar wear my best guess would be 3.5 years old. I would not be surprised if the cementum analysis indicated 2.5 years old, but would be surprised if it reported him to be 4.5 years old.

Where are you considering sending William?

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Where are you considering sending William?

UT Knoxville with my oldest daughter to the deer biologist in their ag dept. She will be back home in a couple weeks for spring break. The deer biologist there is one of her advisors. Have my 2014 and 2013 deer i want to have verified. I recently watched a qdma clip on teeth wear, think i am no more sure than i was with the aging chart. Want to see how the video and tooth aging charts compares to having a biologist look at them. I may send my wife's deer's jawbone too if i can get it cleaned up in time.

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  • 3 years later...

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