A bucks life

[Chad Orde]

A white tails life from begging to end, from spike to old man.

   http://www.realtree.com/deer-hunting/galleries/photo-gallery-from-buttons-to-booner

[reddogge]

Very interesting.

[Carcajou]

thats freakin awesome, as I hunt the Adirondacks every year..amazing photo essay!

[TooManyHobbies]

Interesting, but I don't think it was the same buck in every picture.

That is very cool. Not very many bucks ever see 12 yrs of age! I too am a believer that you cannot tell what a buck will turn out like by looking at his fawn or yearling antlers!

Bisch

[ron w]

Very familiar with this, the Estate where the photos were taken is only 35 min from my home. And not far from where Adkmountianken and I hunt.

[SportHunter]

Cool photo essay, thanks!

[Mamba]

Wow that is  awesome.  Thank you for sharing!

[Sockrsblur]

Chad thanks for posting this! It was great.

[Jayrod]

Very cool I just wish they could let em walk around here till there 4-1/2 and 5-1/2 but slim chance around my parts

[ron w]

Originally posted by pred80:
Very cool I just wish they could let em walk around here till there 4-1/2 and 5-1/2 but slim chance around my parts

You have to understand that this was done on a private preserve with no hunting pressure at all. Total fenced in situation. Trust me, 2 miles down the road the spike would be gone opening day!

[Warden609]

That was really interesting. Deer are incredible critters!!

[Cavscout9753]

Very cool. Ft Benning just went to QDMA for entire post (versus the northern half like it has been), requiring 4 points to take a buck. While monsters like this guy will still be unlikely (due as much to southern deer size as well as to hunting) hopefully we'll get more bucks out of the first one or two year stages. I've never been much of an anyler hunter but even I cant deny the heart pounding difference between a doe or button coming in and a nice buck (I grew up in rural SW new york state where we get some bruisers). Going from picture to picture here you can see the ways to age a deer; where as many folks do it from antler size in this case I can see his aging more from places like around his eyes and muzzle, especailly as he gets a little older. Very cool for sure.

[fmscan]

Chad, that taught me a few things... A wonder he would live that long even with help...

[Chad Orde]

I shot an Iowa buck that the taxidermist guessed it at 8 or 9. I wish I would have got I aged it hole old  do you guys think it is?
 
 

I am not good at aging, but I love freaky stuff, and I would have shot him in a heartbeat!

Cool buck.........Congrats,

Bisch

Oops! Double post,

Bisch

[maxwell]

great set of photos.

[elkken]

Very interesting in deed, kinda made me sad watching that buck grow old and grey, it reminded me of all my past golden retrievers that went from pups to old and grey and passed away.

I am lucky to have a place to hunt that occasionally you will see these old warriors. They are truly impressive to see in the wild. The last few winters mother nature has taken a toll on them and finally we had a mild winter, east side of Washington, and you can see them rebounding..

Thanks for sharing

[Keefer]

I'll guess he was 141/2 years Chad...Thanks for the pics of the first one and very good pictures by the way...