Another old goat

[catman529]

Went out to scout a couple spots for a deer drive me and some buddies will be doing soon.

I remembered jumping a lone doe in this one spot in October, so I figured I'd check it out real quick.

Came in by boat and slipped up the bank, spotted her within a couple minutes. She was feeding on privet by herself. Took a couple more minutes to get situated and make sure she wasn't a button buck, and find a clear shot.

Double lunged her and watched her crash. One of the smallest full grown does I've ever shot. 61.6 lbs dressed. Take your guesses on age, it's just a guess. I'm gonna send what's left of her incisors to the lab and see what they say.

 

[megalomaniac]

One of the oldest I've ever seen. Toothwear basically stops at 8.5.... she's all over that. I would guess 12 or 13, but wouldn't surprise me if she were 15 or 16

 

[RUGER]

Wow !

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

No idea but teeth are wore to the gum line. Very old unless shes been eating rocks

 

[tree_ghost]

That chick is way past her prime…nice kill!

 

[Lincoln Co Archer]

 

[DoubleRidge]

Wow....no idea? Oldest I've seen were from a buck a buddy killed and sent teeth off for CA analysis and it came back 9½....and they didn't appear to be as worn as your doe...she's old.... congrats!

 

[Coker]

Congrats!! You just put her out of her misery. She needed some pudding and mashed potatoes for her diet.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Congrats on the old doe. Those teeth are worn out, 8.5+.

 

[Gravey]

No idea but worn plum down to the gum line she's on up there. Congrats!!!

 

[clwg97]

Haha As old as she was she couldn't see or hear! Congrats on the old nanny goat!

 

[Spurhunter]

That's wild. I was just thinking about the focus on aging deer these days and it occurred to me, I've been deer hunting 35 years, and of all the deer I've killed, I've never looked in a one's mouth. I've just never thought about it.

 

[wsm]

Congrats on the old gal .

 

[Snake]

Looks to be old , congrats .

 

[redblood]

Ancient girl, but looks to be in reasonably good shape

 

[Deer Assassin]

good one

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

I'm surprised to hear someone in Tn. mention deer drives. My family in La. use them in cut overs and around the swampland's. They are also used in Germany for Game management. Very effective and efficient management tool that is under utilized here in Tn. Brings back some good memories of past hunts.

 

[Spurhunter]

I'm surprised to hear someone in Tn. mention deer drives. My family in La. use them in cut overs and around the swampland's.

We used to do that in MS. We ran deer with dogs too. That was some fun!

 

[Volbuck777]

Congratulations on the doe I believe your boat was the second she was in the first being the ark.

 

[DeerCamp]

Hey Catman, won't even wage a guess on age but will you let us know if there is a difference in meat flavor/quality vs a typical doe?

 

[DeerCamp]

Congratulations on the doe I believe your boat was the second she was in the first being the ark.

Ahh, the great Catman flood of 2021.

 

[Andy S.]

Now we are talking old, she's definitely worthy of the discussion. I've only seen a few here in TN over the years that were worn to the gum line like hers.

 

[double browtine]

Wow! Never seen anything like that! She is definitely over 10 years old

 

[catman529]

Hey Catman, won't even wage a guess on age but will you let us know if there is a difference in meat flavor/quality vs a typical doe?

Yes I'm going to do a video on it. The meat smelled clean and fresh like any good deer meat, haven't cooked any yet. I had to be extra careful skinning her out because her tarsals stunk, they were soaked in piss. Didn't want to get any of that on the meat, got her cleaned up nicely and trimmed all the bloody meat out of the wound holes.

 

[ZachMarkus]

I'm surprised to hear someone in Tn. mention deer drives. My family in La. use them in cut overs and around the swampland's. They are also used in Germany for Game management. Very effective and efficient management tool that is under utilized here in Tn. Brings back some good memories of past hunts.

We've done them for years, never fails people get excited and shoot young bucks they wouldn't normally shoot.

 

[catman529]

We've done them for years, never fails people get excited and shoot young bucks they wouldn't normally shoot.

And button bucks. It's a fun time though. I kinda suck at it but we are gonna try to kill a few.

 

[megalomaniac]

We've done them for years, never fails people get excited and shoot young bucks they wouldn't normally shoot.

Yup, that sums up deer drives in a nutshell.

 

[catman529]

Here's a comparison between yesterday's doe (left) and the doe aged at 14.5 by cementum annuli (right). They were killed in different counties but very similar habitat.

 

[megalomaniac]

Here's a comparison between yesterday's doe (left) and the doe aged at 14.5 by cementum annuli (right). They were killed in different counties but very similar habitat.

View attachment 124144
View attachment 124143

A little different wear pattern, but I still think the one you killed a couple days ago looks older.

As light as she was, even considering she was dry, did she have any fat over her backstraps? (I suspect not much ) she was not long for this world even if you hadn't caused her untimely demise!

 

[jaybird62]

The oldest recorded deer in TN were 17 1/2 and 19 1/2. They were tagged does that were transplanted in an original stocking. Curious to learn how old this old doe was.