How Old Was He Really?! Big Buck Hunters Talk Age vs. Score

[rafiki]

is travis gonna drop the pic of his buck with the "extra point"?

 

[robby denning]

is travis gonna drop the pic of his buck with the "extra point"?

lol! I've been trying for months. hahahahahah it's epic

 

[fatlander]

Deer aren’t different than people or any other animal. Some people hit huge growth spurts young, then never amount to much more. Most people hit their big growth spurt in early to mid teenage years. Some people hit huge growth spurts in college. And everything declines if it lives long enough, some decline early than others.

For the part of the world I live in, I’ve been incredibly blessed to kill some phenomenal deer. I’ve got multiples of what people around here call a “buck of a lifetime”, and the biggest deer on my wall is a 3 year old. To boot the biggest deer I’ve ever hunted was also a 3 year old when he died.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[idelkslayer]

I probably could/should put that in there. I do it with the Wyoming data. I know that about 80% of these samples were basically OTC/General hunts, or 1-3 point units in Colorado. For example, only 2 of my 11 were from controlled/hard-to-draw areas.

@robby denning how many bucks in yours were from controlled hunts?

I figured the majority were OTC or low point tags. I appreciate this follow up.

Because some came from other states that limit NR but are open to residents, it's it's easier to say that of the five that were 200+, 4 came from 2pt or less/OTC units. One came from a 9 point unit (but I still hunted in secure country--not the heavily roaded stuff that is everywhere in the unit).

of the other 22 or so, it's about the same-- leaning toward OTC/less than 2pt or 25-50% odds.

three or so came from private property in OTC units, so not sure how to count them.

so I'll leave this at what I indicated in the episode: the good draws are 5-10% odds now (much less for the premo's) so just growing bucks I can't hunt isn't my preference. I just need to hunt where there is some security/balanced with getting a tag

Thank you both for responding and to Robby's point it becomes difficult to make strong correlations due to all the variables between public/private land, OTC for residents vs Controlled for NR.

I tend to support maintaining as much OTC opportunity as possible. Age data is emerging more an more as a data set that will help us understand how hunting pressure and management decisions affect the age demographics in our herds.

Fun podcast, and agree. For the individual hunter, getting age data is a fun extension of the hunt.

 

[WYHuntFishTrap]

After listening to the podcast, it’s really made me wish I knew about tooth aging sooner. I shot this buck about 3 years ago and know I’ll be haunted about not aging him. Heavy bases, split ear, blind in one eye, and was basically skin and bones at the end. I’ll throw up a pic of his molars but know that obviously doesn’t show much. View attachment 1030691View attachment 1030692

Ancient! 10+ year old. From what I understand after about 8 or so it's hard to tell for sure as they are just all worn out.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

After listening to the podcast, it’s really made me wish I knew about tooth aging sooner. I shot this buck about 3 years ago and know I’ll be haunted about not aging him. Heavy bases, split ear, blind in one eye, and was basically skin and bones at the end. I’ll throw up a pic of his molars but know that obviously doesn’t show much.

If you euro mounted him you can pull a premolar or molar and send in. We've done this on some dead heads we've found. Generally expected to be less accurate but will still be able to give you an age.

 

[graniteghost]

If you euro mounted him you can pull a premolar or molar and send in. We've done this on some dead heads we've found. Generally expected to be less accurate but will still be able to give you an age.

I actually ended up shoulder mounting him because he was such a cool unique buck. Wish I had euro mounted him sometimes so it was easier to play with the antlers lol