| I know his age - do you? |
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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I believe this thread will be further proof that it's near impossible to get a deer's age right, without known definitive history (such as I have on this buck), or the teeth aging process. This buck walks on 3, runs on 4, and both his warped rack and handicap, along with my trail cam and field sightings make it very easy for me to know his age. (or at least his minimum age).
Meet "Tripod" and yes - I do hate naming deer, but his name really does fit.. I will post a few photos from this summer. In this shot- deer in the back, by the posted sign... (right leg always off the ground).
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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deer on the right again
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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Ok these were from early July....
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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Here is more recent around 8/21.... Sorry not a giant rack, this is NJ may I remind you...
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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last one - he behind the 8 pt, which I also know for fact is now 3.5 years old (for reference) ....
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By:
Bill in MI
Date:23-Aug-14
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roman nose, a little blockier, 6.25
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By:
Woodsman416
Date:23-Aug-14
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5.5 YO.
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By:
Genesis
Date:23-Aug-14
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Jack....the front looks 3 .5 and the back looks 2 1/2
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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some interesting and some predictable guesses so far... He is a cool, crafty deer I can tell you that..... I will show pics of prior year(s) eventually.
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By:
APauls
Date:23-Aug-14
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Once he is wounded though like that I think it changes the game on a lot of the typical aging through body characteristics.
That being said I also think without history it is extremely difficult to age deer.
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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APauls u are so correct. Early injury changes more than just symmetrical antler growth.
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By:
M.Pauls
Date:23-Aug-14
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I also think with the intro you gave to this deer tell us you've stuck with him as a racked deer for a few years so guesses will be higher than usual. He does look younger than he obviously is though which is the point I think you're trying to make, and have to agree with as well.
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By:
Korey Wolfe
Date:23-Aug-14
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Old enough. Maybe 6.5?
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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Yes my intro sort of indicates he is older than he looks.
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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Ok here goes... I first got pics of this buck back in 2011, and never really thought nothing of it, and never saw him except for these cam shots one time... Note the back leg, and antler configuration. I didn't discover that this buck was same buck until 2013, after going back through some old pics... There is no doubt this is my first history with him, and unfortunately, I can only "guess" he is 2.5 in 2011. Definitely older than 1, most likely 2...
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By:
LINK
Date:23-Aug-14
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37
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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one more from 2011, I should have said "I know AT LEAST how old he is..." Perhaps he is older than 2.5 in 2011, based on his inability to grow large body and antlers...
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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2012 - got more pics of him, all nocturnal. This might have been his peak body size and rack... Nothing impressive, but no mistaking that walk on 3 legs. Antlers look "similar" to 2011. I met a cop hunting nearby (because he shot tripod in the briscuit) and was tracking him onto my piece. That almost didn't end well, but he was very polite and I figured better to have a cop on my side than against me. That has paid dividends in PBA cards ever since...
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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Another 2012... Turns out later on in November prime rut, I took a friend of my son's, age 13 at the time, in a stand I just killed a nice split-brow 9 out of the day before... I watched tripod come walking in as only he could walk, I calmly got the boy to get his bow ready, move only when the buck can't see you, tripod turned broadside at 14 yards, and I said "take him" and the boy proceeded to shoot 1 foot over his rack!!!! Man did he have buck fever... So he survived...
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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Last season, 2013 - his rack changed for the worse... His left side nothing but a corkscrew, and stopped growing a g3 on his right (injured side) and just grew a big fork and small brow...
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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Here is another 2013, I had him dead to rights in broad daylight, the only shot opportunity I ever had on him since the boy missed him in 2012. He was working so hard to rut, was out of breath, and came in behind another neighbor's house at 8 yards broadside in one of my lock-on stands... He froze... Knew something was up and quickly crossed the country road that was 50 yards from my stand, and nearly got hit by a car! I could have taken him but didn't have the heart to do it... I just admired his perseverance... Having studied him up close for several minutes and glassing him walk to my stand, I think he just has a FOOT injury, not a leg...I think it hurts to walk on his foot, but when alarmed he will run on it... He is just an amazing crafty old buck who I believed to be 4.5 last year but I must apologize, I only knew he was at LEAST 4.5 last year!
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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one more "zoomed in" from last year...
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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2013 zoom
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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so now it's 2014, and he does seem to have more on his left side antler this year, so perhaps he is not in full decline? Anyway, once again - I proved I am mostly full of crap... Best I can say is he is 5.5, so woodsman416 is probably right...
Hope you enjoyed the history.
I do believe if I have a date with him close and personal this year, I will honor him with a VPA through his lungs and put him to rest...
It's rare for a buck to live that long in NW NJ... A healthy buck 5.5 years old, gonna dress well over 200lbs and probably gross over 130", possibly into the 140s or 50s depending on genetics...
Is Tripod living with a congenital birth defect, car injury, caught his foot in a snare or trap? Hunting injury? I may never know - but I get a chance to autopsy, perhaps it will reveal his fully history.
Cheers and have a great safe season -
Your bowsite pal Jack
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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One final thought - does anyone think by any chance it's not all the same buck?
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By:
APauls
Date:23-Aug-14
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History makes things interesting. I shot a buck that was much the same kind of situation, only I have him his limp at a guess of 3.5 years old. I finally caught up again with the buck at a guessed 7.5 years old. He had a corkscrew on one side and totally lost growing a brow on the other side and the antlers diminished every single year. I saw him every year but never could get a shot. Probably scored all of 40 when I got him but a neat story none the less and a treasured trophy. I called him "Hoppy" short for "Hopalong."
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By:
APauls
Date:23-Aug-14
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Here is what Hoppy turned into
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By:
Buckiller
Date:23-Aug-14
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Neat story jack! It's cool to see how an injured bucks antlers change so much year to year. Have you found any of his sheds?
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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I. Don't really shed hunt. Needle in a haystack around here when it comes to that around here. It's development with avg size lot 10 acres. Glad u liked the story!
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By:
Shug
Date:23-Aug-14
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By:
Shug
Date:23-Aug-14
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By:
Shug
Date:23-Aug-14
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Jack....here's a NJ buck I measured a few years ago.I cropped the hunters face for his privacy.
The fact that it was piebald made it easily recognizable. ...
He was a 1 1/2 yr old spike. ...@ 2 1/2 he was a 115" 8 point...@ 3 1/2
he turned into this 165" 5x5...
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By:
Shug
Date:23-Aug-14
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Or maybe I didn't crop his face.
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:23-Aug-14
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nice crop job shug! lol... Yeah some deer just have freak antler genes... Too bad they don't live in my part of zone 5!
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By:
WV Mountaineer
Date:24-Aug-14
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Shug, that is priceless. Funny stuff man.
Jack, before I got to the end of thread and saw the photos to verify his age, I was going to say 5.5. But only because I assumed you were showing us a deer that was older than we would think. I would have guessed him at 3.5.
In areas with huge deer densities and such, I think the standard body indicators are less obvious due to stress from never recieving the proper nutrition. But, I agree that it is nearly impossible to accurately judge a deers age by the way it looks unless your herd is very healthy and you have a way to verify it. Only problem is a herd in healthy habitat and numbers are hard to see often enough to get those verifications. God Bless
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By:
DcoleinPA
Date:24-Aug-14
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Great thread! Thanks for sharing.
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By:
Hammer
Date:24-Aug-14
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cool thread Jack but you gave it away to quick. lol
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:24-Aug-14
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Yeah I did. Deer are cool survivors. They don't have to have a giant rack to be a good story.
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By:
Turkey Hunter
Date:24-Aug-14
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Did you know if when looking at a bad antler, like in the pic's, that you can bet an injury happened on the opposite in the pic's. The reverse is true if the bad horn is on the right then his left rear would have the injury. A lot of people don't know that but it's true
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:25-Aug-14
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Turkey hunter that is generally true. Bad right rear leg = screwy left antler. I don't know why leg injuries impact antler development but they do. An even more interesting study would be to see if the antler trait could be passed on via breeding. I would think not but I suppose it is possible.
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By:
Bowme2
Date:25-Aug-14
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Jack, how dare you name a deer!
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:25-Aug-14
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Rick I had to make an exception just this once. It's easier than saying " the buck with injured right rear leg and screwy left antler". :)
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By:
njbuck
Date:25-Aug-14
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Jack, although he wont score well at all, IMO he is one heck of a trophy. Where I hunt in NJ, 99% of all mature bucks will be clean 8 pts, so having a different rack, even though not a big one, on a mature buck that you have multiple years of experience with would put him right at the top of my list. Best of luck with him in a couple of weeks.
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By:
Turkey Hunter
Date:25-Aug-14
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Jack I'm with you completely
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By:
R. Hale
Date:25-Aug-14
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I do not know his age but if you mow his yard long enough you can steal it. :)
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:25-Aug-14
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R. Hale I hate to admit that went completely over my head..... I usually need a translation for someone else's posts - not yours. :)
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By:
Hammer
Date:25-Aug-14
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Nothing wrong with naming a deer or two every so often and I never understood why people act like tools or make a big fuss about naming deer. I mean to each their own and what's the big deal in naming a deer anyway?
I have 2 here I have named but mostly on accident. One is BIG MAMA. She is a big ole doe that has been given a pass for 5 years by all the hunters in the area because she is a true specimen and a crafty old hag. She drops some nice bucks too. The other one is ONE EYE. She is a doe that lost her eye as a fawn 2 years ago. She has two fawns of her own right now.
We named 2 bucks as well over the years. One was called HIGH TINE NINE. LOL. He was a 9 point that had the oddest brow tine. He had a 12 inch long brow tine on one side.. The 2nd buck we named was SIZZORS. He had what looked like a pair of scissors on his rack. My daughter shot him. Her 1st deer ever and she was sooooo happy. I was too.
I need a monster buck so we can name it big bad John. lol
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By:
R. Hale
Date:25-Aug-14
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Jack, I thought you posted about mowing your neighbors lawn and getting the land through adverse possession. Might have been mistaken. If so sorry.
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By:
Genesis
Date:25-Aug-14
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Great thread...2013 pic definitely ages him over my previous 2 1/2 yo guess.
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:25-Aug-14
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I brush hog several properties and they all let me hunt. Yep the2011 pics of tripod are a field I mow near power lines. Rest of pics are my woods behind my house. The only adverse condition on that particular field is the owners are now on their 2nd year with a dog that incessantly chases deer. They have invisible fence but doggie likes deer more than he hates getting shocked. I have expressedy opinion on this but tread lightly don't want to lose what was once a great spot until the dog took over.
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By:
Ty
Date:25-Aug-14
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5.5 this fall
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By:
IdyllwildArcher
Date:25-Aug-14
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Cool story. You should send his tooth in when you get him.
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By:
stealthycat
Date:25-Aug-14
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really really hard to tell ... 3 to 12 years old depending on food supply and location/genetics
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By:
Jack Harris
Date:25-Aug-14
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stealthycat, I already established no less than 5.5... Could be older if he is older than 2.5 in the 2011 pics...
