% of bucks that die a natural death?
12-04-2006, 10:36 AM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: YewNork
Posts: 1,794
RE: % of bucks that die a natural death?
i disagree, i go to this low fecnced deer preserve where theres no hunting, and the deer run right up to people and get hand fed apples and stuff, and you never see a deer that is older than 5.5, and the winters arent that bad, and only 2 deer got killed by cars here last year... maybe in captivity 10+ years, but wild i dont think so, not even under these good conditions.
12-04-2006, 11:51 AM
#13
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location:
Posts: 11,472
RE: % of bucks that die a natural death?
I think there lucky to hit 7 years. I also think the % that get to that age is fairly low. 25% maybe. Out of all these deer killed show me one that is 10.
12-04-2006, 11:59 AM
#15
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eureka, MO
Posts: 3,703
RE: % of bucks that die a natural death?
My friend shot a buck with a rifle two seasons ago that had zero teeth. He had the deer aged by the MCD and they aged it as an 8 y/o. I don't see a deer living much longer than that in the wild than 8-10 years...Too many predators that can take it down when they get older and weaker.
12-04-2006, 12:09 PM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: YewNork
Posts: 1,794
RE: % of bucks that die a natural death?
ORIGINAL: Bob H in NH
I bet over 50% of the deer die from "non hunting" deaths, these include, disease, coyote, old age, cars, injuries from fights.
I bet over 50% of the deer die from "non hunting" deaths, these include, disease, coyote, old age, cars, injuries from fights.
12-04-2006, 12:10 PM
#17
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Roanoke, Va
Posts: 3,562
RE: % of bucks that die a natural death?
I haven't been sending out "Happy Birthday" cards to the bucks in my area every year but I am sure there are not manythat are over7 years old.
10 years old seems to be stretching it IMO.
10 years old seems to be stretching it IMO.
12-04-2006, 12:25 PM
#18
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 842
RE: % of bucks that die a natural death?
20 years was the oldest recorded age of a captive deer.
As with most ungulate type animials, their "natural" lifespan, if not limited by disease or predation, is limited by the wear of their teeth.
A deer that eats primarily soft mast or grasses does not wear their teeth away as fast as one that lives on sticks and nuts. That deer will therefore keep its teeth longer and therefore live longer.
Once past age 2.5, there's no accurate way to age a buck except to compare the wearing of their teeth to that of others of known age. But those "standards" that we see for sale are of pen raised deer, not wild deer (how else would you "know" their age.) so their diet may have been vastly different than the one you shoot in the wild.
That said? My guess is that a 10 year old deer is gonna be called "Gramps" buy just about all of the others.
The % of them that make it there? I'd guess about 1% in my area of the world.
As with most ungulate type animials, their "natural" lifespan, if not limited by disease or predation, is limited by the wear of their teeth.
A deer that eats primarily soft mast or grasses does not wear their teeth away as fast as one that lives on sticks and nuts. That deer will therefore keep its teeth longer and therefore live longer.
Once past age 2.5, there's no accurate way to age a buck except to compare the wearing of their teeth to that of others of known age. But those "standards" that we see for sale are of pen raised deer, not wild deer (how else would you "know" their age.) so their diet may have been vastly different than the one you shoot in the wild.
That said? My guess is that a 10 year old deer is gonna be called "Gramps" buy just about all of the others.
The % of them that make it there? I'd guess about 1% in my area of the world.
