8 1/2 year old wild buck

[buckee]

He's a great buck even without all that character. AWESOME !!

[danthehuntinman]

Would be a true trophy to get with his age. He didn't get that big being dumb.

[Tom2008]

Jim this is your year! He grew that rack just for you! haha. I hope you get a crack at him. It would be awesome to see that rack up close. Good luck bud.

[Kels]

i find 8.5 years old to be far fetched. i have seen doe's shot and aged by biologist at 5.5 years old and they barely had teeth left. once deer get over that 5.5 year mark their teeth and overall health start declining fast in the wild. that buck in that picture looks as healthy as a 3.5 year old. i'm guessing he is only around 4.5 years old.

Zambo has been watching this buck for years, collected multiple years of his shed antlers. Including years inbetween where he could not find the sheds. Im sure he knows this deer well enough to give it a pretty close estimate to it's age. And to know that its not only 4.5 years old.

[camocop]

he said he did not have cam's out the first "4" years and was going on sheds alone. unless he watched the antlers fall off of this buck, he can not absolutley say it was the same bucks antlers. also unless there is a tag in that bucks ear, there is no way of positively identifying it from year to year. we can take educated guesses but no way of nowing for sure. show that picture to a biologist and ask if he's 8.5 years old. he is a great buck none the less but not 8.5 years old.

[Tom2008]

he said he did not have cam's out the first "4" years and was going on sheds alone. unless he watched the antlers fall off of this buck, he can not absolutley say it was the same bucks antlers. also unless there is a tag in that bucks ear, there is no way of positively identifying it from year to year. we can take educated guesses but no way of nowing for sure. show that picture to a biologist and ask if he's 8.5 years old. he is a great buck none the less but not 8.5 years old.

You have no idea. You don't even know this guy so how can you judge his knowledge on this buck or on aging deer? I know Zambo personally and can vouch that this deer is a lot older than 4 1/2.

Edited August 1, 2009 by Tom2008

[gobblerroller]

Have you ever found his sheds?

Uhh he said he found 4 matching sheds. Gobblerrroller

[camocop]

You have no idea. You don't even know this guy so how can you judge his knowledge on this buck or on aging deer? I know Zambo personally and can vouch that this deer is a lot older than 4 1/2.

i'm not saying your friend is dumb ora liar. i'm just saying his mistaken. deer simply don't get that age in the wild and the rare exceptions to this rule are no where near as healthy as that buck appears to be. if you and Zambo believe this buck is 8.5 years old then so be it...i won't change your mind. i know he isn't, there is an easy way to settle it. shoot the buck, pull his lower jaw bone photo it and paste it on here. also have a biologist age the jaw bone. unless your friend has kept a visual on this buck 24/7/365 for 8.5 years, he has no proof. the only other way your friend could make these claims were if he was absolutely positive that there were no other bucks within 20 miles of his location during the last 8.5 years. since we know he can't say this and we know he has not kept a visual on this buck 24/7/365...he can not positively say this deer is 8.5 years old. it takes more evidence than finding sheds to verifying how old a deer is. those found sheds could have come from numerous deer that your friend has never seen on the property.

there is a very slim chance you friend might be right, i'm not calling him a liar. i'm just saying the odds are stacked against his claims and if i was a betting man, i would say this buck is several years younger than his claim.

[AddctdGmbler]

Great buck! Hope you get him.

As for the guy that likes to rain on everyone's parade, deer have lived to be 20 years old in the wild. If this guy has found his sheds (this is not an ordinary looking rack) for 4 years and has 4 years of pictures then I believe him. You definitely cannot accurately tell a deers age by looking at a trail cam pic. Especially if you are from Florida.

Once again, great buck and hope you have tailgate pics this fall.

[camocop]

who's raining on anyone's parade? i said he is a great buck regardless of age. my point is shed collecting is no age verification tool. also, antlers change from year to year...so "odd" shaped antlers have no bearing. if ya'll can successfully age deer with no scientific evidence...maybe ya'll need to do travelling deer seminars and teach us that rely on solid proof a thing or two.

[camocop]

also i would like to see your proof of 20 year old "wild" deer. the only deer i have ever heard of that reached that age were pen kept with optimal nutritional feed. i use to work with the Florida Wildlife Commission under their biologist (not as a biologist just assisting). out of the 1,000 or so deer that i have gutted, pulled jaw bones from and collected kidney's from...the oldest was approximately 5.5 to 6.5 years of age. this deer barely had any teeth left and the biologist advised once they reach this age range it's almost impossible to positively age them. he advised a wild deer natural food supply are so hard on the deer teeth that they start wearing out around 6.5 years of age. if their teeth wear out at that age it makes it harder for them to chew and eat. the deer posted in this thread is healthy and shows no sign of age (sway back, pot belly, elongated nose, etc.). there have been deer harvested in the wild that have been estimated at over 8 years of age but you could visually see how poor they looked.

if ya'll want to change my mind, shoot this buck, have him aged and prove me wrong. i already stated he is a great buck and a shooter for sure. i'd love to put him on my wall, i've never had the chance at a drop tine buck.

[AddctdGmbler]

You don't have to have scientific evidence to prove age. If you have seen the same deer for 8 years in a row then you know he is at least 8 years old.

As for deer in the wild living 20 years, I read an article in one of my hunting magazines about a doe that had been tagged at around age 2 and they found her dead at somewhere around 20 years old. She was not pen raised and lived in the wild. I guess I'll go dig up my last years magazines and find the article since you need proof. I'll report back when I find out exactly what magazine it was in so you can look it up. I know that 8 years old is very old for a buck in the wild. I was just stating that deer can live to be much older in the wild depending on each individual case.

Edited August 2, 2009 by AddctdGmbler

[AddctdGmbler]

Here ya go...... Look under the Longevity section in the article.

http://books.google.com/books?id=HD_ssExPAOEC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=deer+live+to+be+20+years+old&source=bl&ots=LWVA1CeYpk&sig=f0MjD15lSLRrQtAvJaC5U16R7wc&hl=en&ei=rO51Sr20K9WOtgePp92WCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

[Tom2008]

if you and Zambo believe this buck is 8.5 years old then so be it...i won't change your mind. i know he isn't, there is an easy way to settle it.

there is a very slim chance you friend might be right, i'm not calling him a liar.

Hmmmm....

You put way too much thought into this. Just let it go.

Edited August 2, 2009 by Tom2008

[Jorden]

deer simply don't get that age in the wild and the rare exceptions to this rule are no where near as healthy as that buck appears to be.

We have a doe near our house that we have seen every year for about 8-9 years. How do I know its the same one...cause she had her front leg shot off at the shoulder...and we have seen her every year for about 8 years. And she has two fawns every year. So dont say it isnt possible or that it cant happen and even if they were they wouldnt be healthy, because this doe we see every year is perfectly healthy(minus only having 3 legs:D) and is evident by here having two fawns every year. Just because you have never seen it doesnt mean it cant happen. When I first saw it, it didnt look to me like an 8.5 yr old but ill take Zambos word for it because I have no reason to doubt him.

Now for the real reason I came to this thread:D

That is an awesome buck. Hope you get him this fall and can share all yur pics and sheds with us:cool:

[Casey]

Here are a couple of trail cam pictures of an 8 1/2 year old buck on our property. He is on top of my hit list this bow season. I have four matched sets of sheds from him and there have been a few years that I could not find his sheds. This is the first year he grew the drop tine, I expected his rack to shrink a little but he grew his best ever. I can't wait for bow season. You can see his picture from last year on recent Cuddeback magazine ads.

He's old and big for a reason, big bucks like many others have said in the past, they are total different breed of bucks. Nothing better than trying to trick a wise old buck.

Great buck Zambo, I'm going to guess around 180+ he'll have a few deductions, but who cares about scores on a buck that old and big.

By the way, camocop, if he has had sheds of this buck over and over, plus trail cam pictures of this buck over and over the years, then he's not lying. Let it go.

Welcome to the forum Camocop. We trust Zambo here, because we have gotten to know him over the years.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Casey

[Casey]

Great buck Zambo, I'm going to guess around 180+ he'll have a few deductions, but who cares about scores on a buck that old and big.

[Zambo]

Thanks Jorden and Casey. Just two examples of the outstanding members on this forum. Your support is what makes this site the best forum running. Also thanks to Tom and Kelsey for your support. You two define everything positive and humble in the hunting community. Great examples of our younger generation of outdoorsmen.

Jim

[Zambo]

Again thanks to all the members of this forum for thier support and well wishes.

Jim

[Mirage]

Man i want a drop tine buck sooo bad. I dont care if its a spike drop tine....lol. great buck. You two have some history together?

[Tom2008]

Man i want a drop tine buck sooo bad. I dont care if its a spike drop tine....lol. great buck. You two have some history together?

I'll let Jim answer that, but yeah a lot! haha

[wtnhunt]

However old the deer is, he is a really cool buck. Would not have thought looking at the pics that the buck would have been quite that old. Usually at 5.5 some sway is seen in the back, to be honest I would have probably thought the deer to be 4.5. Really don't have any reason to argue the age though, if you have the sheds to prove he is that old, that is very cool and don't doubt you do a bit.

Have heard of deer making it past 10, but have also read that is rare due to their teeth wearing down. Guess if a deer was on a diet that provided a minimal amount of wear, their teeth might last a little longer and the deer may stay healthier. At any rate, good luck on the deer. Hope you tag him, and after you do get a biologist to look at his teeth and report back here with the results.