MATURE BUCK: what is ave. age in tn?

[Chaneylake]

what is the average age of a mature buck in the great STATE OF TENNESSEE. in 1991 when i was in the process of starting my QDM program a person with the TWRA, i believe his name was JOE F????
i do not remember his last name, anyway he told me that at that point in time TWRA would have an extremely hard time raising a
4 1/2 year old buck in the state even under the supervision of a
VET. what has changed or has anything changed. i do know that there are some past the 4 1/2 age but is this on the + side of the curve.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Do you mean average age of a buck? Average age of a mature is kind of open ended. Some folks consider a mature buck 4 1/2 some 2 1/2, etc, etc.

 

[Chaneylake]

take the question any way that you want to just bs'ing on al gores internet

no, seriously, would like to know average age past yearling, and what is out there past 4 1/2 years old and what kind of positive proof do we have on bucks past 4 1/2. on the average at what age do bucks start dying of natural causes--old age.

 

[Radar]

I'd say 3.5 or older . Once they get above 4.5 they get harder to kill because they become more nocturnal when pressured .

 

[tnclayboy]

I'd say 3.5 or older . Once they get above 4.5 they get harder to kill because they become more nocturnal when pressured .

Ditto

 

[Football Hunter]

mature as far as horns,31/2 ,as far as any thing else ask BSK

 

[BSK]

A buck (or doe) is considered "mature" at 4 1/2. The life-span of a buck in the wild is probably 10-12 years, but does have been known to live much longer (15-20 years).

Now what percent of bucks make it to old-age (8+ years)? Probably only a very tiny percentage.

On managed properties, camera censuses often find about 5-10% of the buck population is 4 1/2+. On unmanaged land, less, but still I will see properties where they get a couple (in the 3-5% range). Those numbers don't sound like much of a difference until you reallize 10% is one of every 10 bucks being mature, while 3% is one in 33 bucks.

 

[BSK]

I just looked at the last 5 years of camera data from my place and the percentages by buck age are:

1 1/2: 51.5%
2 1/2: 26.9%
3 1/2: 14.6%
4 1/2: 6.4%
5 1/2: 0.6%
6 1/2+: 0.6%

So that would mean 7.6% have been mature (4 1/2+), and 22.2% have been in the most common QDM "shooter" category (3 1/2+).

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

A mature buck will go somewhat nocturnal without hunting pressure.

 

[Chaneylake]

thanks BSK, exactly what i was looking for