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An old buck shot an old buck!

My Dad shot a knarly racked buck this year with the bow during gun season. We had each seen this deer a few times, but never got the opportunity to throw an arrow at him. My Dad saw him the day before bedded on a lower shelf with a group of does and two larger racked bucks. The older buck ended up being the first one to get up and feed towards him but he ran out of daylight and my Dad slipped out undetected. The next day he set his climber 75yds closer to where they were bedded in hopes that they would return. They did and the older buck read the script perfectly. He was the first to get up to feed again and fed right to my Dad. He took him broadside at 25yds. I met up with him and helped drag him out. Right when I saw him in person I knew he was old and on the way down. I checked his gums and he barely had any teeth left. I sent out a couple teeth to have him aged and he ended up being 9.5yrs old! He also dressed out at 182#s. Great mature trophy. This is the first year that we have seen him on this property. I would have loved to see what he looked like 3-4years ago.

That's is a old deer,wow to think of how many times he has been persuited either by animal or Hunter and I bet he dodged a few vehicles,great Trophy and story. Congratulations to you guys!

Good story man! Glad to see your dad get that old boy rather than the coyotes or winter.

that's a heck of a buck and story! couldn't imagine he had much time left. how'd the meat taste off him? I never knew it was so easy to send teeth in for aging.

Congrats to your dad. Yeah I'm curious on the meat as well? Never ate that old of a buck.

Very good. Congrats to your dad.

That's super cool. It's amazing how long he survived! Very cool. Congrats to your dad, as others have noted.

Will

Great story, and awesome shot placement! Congrats to your Dad.

Please let us know how the meat tastes and tenderness of the meat from such an old buck.

Congrats to your dad on a great old mature buck harvest.

So awesome.. now that's a trophy!

That us a great deer and story, thanks for sharing. I will throw this question out there - What is the max life expectancy of a whitetail in Mass ? I read once some study in Carolinas had some at 19 years of age.

Probably shot the hardest buck to kill in those woods. Cool deer.

Thanks for the congrats guys, he works his but off every year to get a nice buck or two. I was proud of him on this one. The meat is actually delicious and surprisingly tender. I cant tell the difference between meat from this buck or any other deer we take. Its all in the butchering and prep. We had a nice cold spell when he shot it so we were able to hang it longer than we normally do before butchering it. On younger deer I typically cut it up in a day or two but we let this guy hang for close to 8 days. I think that may have helped with the tenderness of the meat. We did a euro mount on it, I will add a picture when I get a chance.

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