Yeah, I believe that they arent always 100% accurate, but I feel for the most part they are really close. The tooth wear guides are pretty definitive up to 5.5, but after that they seem to lump everything into a category of "mature deer". Definitely the best way is having history with a buck. You got me to thinking about the tooth wear and I compared the jawbones from both my wife's and my bucks from last year. Her buck was a known 4.5 a year old and the wear difference was pretty amazing.
So after all the time I thought about this buck and planned how to kill him, it's finally over. This deer has given me fits, but has taught me a lot about hunting mature bucks. This was the 8th time I had him in range and was finally able to close the deal. Earlier this season I damn near got Mr Clean a couple of times. As usual though, something always worked in his favor and saved him at the last moment. And I also got the biggest test of my bowhunting career, passing a 135ish buck because I wasn't sure on his age. Plus I really only had one buck on my mind. So come the morning of November 2, I told my wife that we needed to head to a spot that I had several encounters with Mr Clean in the past. It was foggy and damp and felt like it would be a good morning for bucks to be on their feet. I love mornings like this. It seems like the bucks feel safer moving in the fog and mist. So I get our sticks and stands hung up on a big willow and we get settled in as it's just getting light enough to see. It didn't take long to see our first deer, and it was a little 4 pointer. It was a good sign because he was out cruising looking for does. After the 4 pointer we started watching a doe and had a flock of turkeys working towards us. As the turkeys are coming in, another doe and yearling come through about 75 yards to our left. At this point I'm about ready to pop a turkey when my wife said she saw a buck. I put my binoculars on him and knew who it was right away. I watched him tearing up a scrape and lost sight of him. At this point I'm thinking about grunting because I thought he left. I'm glad that I didnt, because next thing I know I see him come out from behind a tree at 50 yards walking straight at me. I'm beginning to get nervous at this point because I was afraid he was going to come straight at me and get downwind with no shot. I have my bow in hand and ready as he approached from 15 yards. His head went behind a tree and I drew back waiting for him to turn. He walks up to a big log at 10 yards, acting like he was unsure which route to take. And then he just stands there looking around, still facing me. After a few moments he decided that he needed to look up and stare me down. I had been holding at full draw for about a minute at this time, and thinking to myself that there was no way in hell I was letting down anytime soon. He continued to stare at me for what seemed like eternity, and started acting like he might bolt. All I wanted was for him to turn to leave. Fortunately he did just that. He was still quartering to me, but at the angle and distance I felt very confident in killing him. So I settled my pin on the top of his left shoulder and let it fly. I heard a loud crack and watched my arrow completely disappear. He acted like he was hurting immediately. He ran about 70 yards and stopped, then I heard a couple limbs break and all was quiet. Talk about fired up! I was shaking like a leaf, and my wife was ready to scream she was so excited. It was really amazing to be able to have her with me when I finally shot this buck. Once we got down I went to the spot where I shot and found blood immediately. It was like a someone had a water hose spraying blood all over the ground. My arrow looked great and and we found him rather quickly. The feeling of walking up to that buck was one I won't ever forget. I hate that he's gone now, but love that he's gonna reside in my house. Here are a few more pics of this wonderful buck.
I just thought I'd share this picture. I got my buck back today and he turned out really well. I threw together and little board and hung a couple sets of his sheds under him.
