Park Manager. So, even if it is true, its an anomaly. A deer dressing that much at 2.5 is like shooting a buck that scores over 200". An anomaly. What time we going to dinner?
I guess when I get the euro mount back I'll probably just get the top. Anyway can you tell from that or do you have to go off the jaw bone? I would really like to nail it down especially since Dan really has me thinking the taxi is probably wrong. And its a good skill to have anyway. My dad has killed bigger deer in that area but they were obviously 5+ year old deer
I told K:"Dan says I'm after him again and is worried what you're going to think.". He replies: "Tell him they're going to have a hard time finding a coffin big enough to hold those hands." Me: "Wrong Dan, I'm talking about Gay Dan." K12: "Oh, D3!" Lmao. :D
I hear ya Fitz. Deer do and will live older then most think. My dad feeds the deer In the winter moths In northern Mn In his yard. They had one they called bare butt (no tail on her). She was 20+ years old, neighbors shot her last year accidently during the gun season. On the land I hunt there's a doe we call limpy. She's missing part of her hoof. She's been this way for 8 years. As far as aging, I don't put any stock Into any of It. I've saw way too many "guesses I call them" from these biologist and DNR workers on bear that I've shot. I've got a buck on my land this year that's at least 4.5 years old, probably 5.5 years old. I started seeing him last year. Last year his body was huge and his sheds measured out at 107 Inches. I figured he'd dress In that 220lb range. One of the biggest whitetails I've ever saw hunting. This year his body has shrunk (maybe 190lbs dressed). His rack did grow some more though but not much. He looks to be In that 115 Inch range. Lots of mass on his antlers. He don't have that old mature buck look to him that he had last year but I know for sure It's him. Like humans, I'm sure a whitetails body can differ year to year although I bet It's not as common. Back In 2007 my 1st year using trail camera's I got a picture of a wide 8 point with long spindly tines. He didn't have much for mass at all on his antlers. I'd put money on It he didn't weight no more then 160lbs dressed and this was In September. I'd also put lots of cash on It that he was a very old buck on his way down quickly. I think the person who can best judge the age of their animals are the people who've hunted the same land for a LONG time and know the potential of their animals. On the land I hunt years ago It wasn't very common to shoot heavy bodied bucks. A heavy bodied buck on the land I hunt then would go In that 180lb dressed range. These were 3.5 year old bucks measuring 132 to 135 Inches (all 10 pointers). Flat and wide looking 10 pointers were the common look of a mature buck on this land. These days It's different now here, different genetics. Hardly now do we see the wide 10's but rather heavy massed 8 pointers here. Their bodies have gotten bigger too, just different genetics all together.
I agree with Dan. Although possible, it's not too probable for a 2 1/2 to dress out at 185. For the areas of Wis. That I've hunted, the weights vs age go something like this (dressed). BTW, the deer I shot in Ill were a bit heavier than the Wis deer by about 10 lbs. 1 1/2 - 125-145 lbs 2 1/2 - 145-165 lbs 3 1/2 - 165-190 lbs 4 1/2+ - 175+ Deer are like people, skinny, fat, short, long etc. Taxidermists are not always an authority when it comes to aging deer. For that matter, neither are some DNR biologists. I brought the jaw bone from a 20" wide, 141" gross eight pointer that dressed out at 193 lbs to a DNR biologist who aged it for me at 1 1/2.
Shot an eleven point in SC that the guy at the check station went ape over. He swore it was way over 200 pounds and the biggest deer he had seen in years. He wrote 225# on the ledger. I weighed it an hour later at my biologist friend's house... actual live weight (minus the blood all over the back of my Blazer) drum roll please........ 146#. That's a pretty big miss.
I think 3.5 are harvested more frequntly because they are dumber than the 4 and 5 year old bruisers, but are "big" enough to be considered a wall hanger. So they just get shot more and get more publicity.
Anomaly, yes, but I point it out to show that just because it's not seen in most areas doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Like I used to catch raccoons over 30lbs every season, but you can't believe how often I hear people say that 30lb+ raccoons don't exist. 'Park Manager' is shorter than writing 'Natural Area and Wildlife Super Specialist blah, blah, blah..' or whatever the official title is. This is U of I property and the guy is a biologist. The deer we kill are carved up so that lymph nodes and spinal tissue is removed along with the tip of the tongue and a tooth is pulled for aging (tho' they are just freezing them this year to send in later, in previous years they were sent out). So, if you're thinking it's a fat dude riding around in a golf cart, you're completely wrong. They even fly over this property with FLIR to count the deer in the park and surround areas. :D I'm free tomorrow.
^ This. There are more 3.5 year olds than 4.5 and older deer because many people will pass up an average 2.5 year old buck but not many 3.5er's get passed up. So, there are just less of them surviving to be big deer.
As far as age.. I really think most people over estimate the age of their deer in general.. always have thought that. As far as a 2.5 going 185... not really an anomaly Danno.. rare sure.. but certainly not an anomaly. People quickly forget that deer were once nearly wiped out entirely.. when state's began "stocking" them back after the turn of the last century.. they used deer from different parts of the country... mostly Wisconsin and Texas... but other state's too. I've seen 2 year olds that don't break 120 field dressed and others that would tip the 180+ mark. Georgia is the perfect example of this.. they have some areas with tiny tiny little deer my retriever would scare and then giants so big you'd think they were from Iowa... and constantly feeding on huge piles of corn.. everyday... the entire year.
True.. but I was bored.. and had simply nothing else to give.. so I did what everyone does.. argued semantically. I also didn't think semantically was a word until now.
I have killed probably 8-10, 2.5 year old bucks in the past 8 years or so. The largest one only dressed at 120 lbs and it was a very big 2.5 year old for my area. The average weight of those 2.5 year old bucks is 100 lbs. And some deer do live a long time, mainly does. I have killed at least 3 does that the state biologists believe were 7.5+ years of age. Bucks on the other hand.....most of them are lucky to survive their 2nd birthday around here.
Could it be simply that the weight and age of MOST un-weighed/un-checked deer are simply over-estimated...AKA as exaggerated. It does seem to be the course of most sportsmen... uh sorry... sports people in general. When I hear someone telling me about their XXX weight deer, I tend to ask: "Did you weigh it or estimate it?" Especially note worthy when the stated weight is an obvious generality. Like exactly 200 lbs.
I read an article one time that stated "at 3 1/2 years old the bone growth and structure of a deer is complete". Meaning that the deer will continue to add muscle and weight, but not more bone. Which will allow for more minerals and vitamins to aid in antler development. I don't know how true this is, but it makes a lot of sense. As for the weight issue; in my experience it varies greatly on age and what they eat. I have seen deer weights vary greatly in our area just by traveling 20 miles. The area I hunt the majority of the time is larging void of any agricultural ground, except food plots, but some of the other areas I hunt that are only 20 minutes away have much larger deer. These areas are also very much argicultural areas, mainly farmground, where corn and beans are in heavy supply all summer and fall. An example for this year would be a 5.5 year old 175 inch buck taken on our farm in November dressed out at 165 pounds. A doe that my dad shot on a farm in the second area I mentioned dressed at 130 pounds.
