Mule Deer Buck Aged
Mule Deer
Velvet Mule Deer
Velvet Mule Deer
Some of you may remember this Mule Deer buck I got at Rockin R last fall in SW Colorado.
Sent the teeth off to www.deerage.com where they age them under microscope like tree rings.
Came back at 7.5 years old. Really neat to know the TRUE age.
Kit
Kit
Here’s the kit they sell to send in the teeth and also the letter telling me the buck was 7.5 years old.
Cool.
That’s a big boy too.
That's cool Charlie. I'd have guessed him younger. Have you had him scored yet? If not, what'd you tape him out at?
That's, like 92 in deer years. Probably couldn't hear, smell, or see very well. Might have even had a touch of dementia. I prefer to hunt them younger when they have their wits about them.. :-)
But what a beautiful buck, even for a geriatric (him, not you!).
Thanks for posting this. Good information to keep for the future.
I kick myself for not saving the lower jaw of this buck I shot three years ago
Holy moly....never would have guessed it to be that old!
It prob had CWD too. Did you get it checked?
Always nice to really know. I try to send at least one a year in from the place I hunt to be aged. We've found them to be a year older that we thought about half the time.
So Charlie does P&Y qualify that as an ethical kill or is that just putting an old boy out of his misery? ;)
Congrats on a mature stud. Buck looks good too.
Lots of variables on the tooth wear age "guessing". May try this one out for deer on the family's ranch in Texas.
Wow that’s neat to know. Always interesting knowing that stuff
He probably had the wisdom of Solomon, Charlie. That makes it even more impressive ;-)
I've started to send in teeth for aging. Sometimes it confirms your guess, other times it's a surprise. Oldest I've done is a northern MN wt, field dressed a skinny 205 and had 90 inches of antler. 6.5 years old. The oldest critters I've killed, without the accuracy of aging, have been whitetail does and a couple cow elk.
It's pretty cheap and neat to know.
You got that back fast! I sent in my Iowa bucks teeth mid Nov. Hope I get it back in a month also. Congrats on an old buck.
IdyllwildArcher: I just had him Officially measured for P&Y Club entry and he is 175 4/8’s gross and 168 5/8’s net!
Well, you did a great job with the photo because he sure looks bigger.
LKH: Here’s another view after stripping the velvet. Official measurement is reality regardless of photos.
I now know the bucks actual age and actual measurement. Very satisfying:)
Nice buck Charlie! Congratulations and thanks for sharing the information.....
Awesome deer Charlie, thanks for sharing!
Charlie are those tips squared off due to them being soft under the velvet? Thx, Kip
Kip: The two you see on his left (our right) antler must have been bumped. He was fully developed. If you look at the field photo up top you’ll see those two tips were black instead of brown like the rest of the rack. They were hard when stripped. I am getting synthetic velvet put on and will hang as a euro on a skullhooker.
Great buck Charlie! Congrats!
Charlie,
Congratulations on a nice buck and score. Please post a photo of the antlers after the synthetic velvet is added. I just can't bring myself to strip mine, and I haven't seen anyone do synthetic velvet that I think would bring back the look he had when I shot him. If someone has one in velvet that they think looks like real velvet, I'd love to see it. I would absolutely love to be sold on synthetic velvet, so that I could have it officially score, but I'm just not there yet.
Stick: I’ll post a pic but I’m pretty sure you won’t like it:)
I’m just the opposite in that 10-20 years later the natural velvet makes the mount look old and straggly while the synthetic looks as fresh as the day it was put on. Different strokes for different folks!!
Glad to hear you're getting it prepped with velvet. My anxiety level jumped when I saw the pic of the stripped antlers. It's a byproduct of 7 years of velvet mule deer crushing my spirit year after year. I want one bad. What do his G1's measure?
G1’s Measurer 1 6/8 and zero!
I remember you posting that buck C-man.
He sure doesn't look that old and it is nice to see his age for reference.
Good luck, Robb
Charlie,
You are absolutely right about old velvet potentially looking old and straggly, while synthetic will remain the same. There are certainly a lot of authentic velvet mounts that leave a lot to be desired as well. With all the great taxidermists out there, it seems like someone would eventually make progress in this area!
DL looks like someone was baiting that buck with meth.
I started having a quart of Antler Velvet Tan and a bunch of needles and syringes along- hard to beat the real velvet if you can inject it soon enough.
That's an old muley. I suspect the do a cross-section of the tooth and count the annuli (rings). They do this on Moose, Lions and Bears for free here in Colorado when you harvest.
Awesome buck Charlie, make sure you get a pic when he’s all done and hanging on the wall so we can check him out!
