Please age jawbone (pics added from deer shot in muzzleloader)

[JCDEERMAN]

I'll add more to the story later. Please let me know your thoughts

 

[TheLBLman]

My guess is 4 1/2 or older.

 

[TN Larry]

At least 4.5 but I'm leaning 5.5. Did you find the buck that you shot with a muzzleloader?

 

[megalomaniac]

4.5

 

[tree_ghost]

Yeah i was thinking 4.5-5.5.

 

[BSK]

One side shows wear indicative of 4 1/2 while the other 5 1/2. But considering how "sharp" the crests of the last molars are, I would "officially" go with 4 1/2. That said, most research on toothwear indicates deer with toothwear indicating 4 1/2 are almost always older by at least 1 year.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Thanks, guys. I know nothing about aging teeth, but yalls guesses align with my age guesses based on looking at his summer body.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

At least 4.5 but I'm leaning 5.5. Did you find the buck that you shot with a muzzleloader?

I did indeed. I wasn't even looking for him. I was flagging an old 2 track Saturday morning that we will be having dozed soon (making a new trail system on our place).

In the pic, the X is where I shot him, the continuous line is his blood trail, the dotted line is his likely path (based on me thinking I heard him while trailing and typical deer travel) and the yellow is where I spent 10 hours looking for him. Found him at the dot

 

[JCDEERMAN]

 

[Wrangler95]

That was a nice one!

 

[BSK]

Dang! Nice buck! Sorry you didn't get to claim him at the time, but very nice to be able to find him eventually. And claim the rack.

 

[BSK]

Early in the 2020 deer season, ran into a guy trespassing on my place. Turned out he had been bowhunting on a neighboring property and hit what he said was a huge 10-point. He showed me the blood-covered broken off arrow. I gave him permission to continue looking for the buck and gave him some suggestions of where to look. He contacted me later and said he never found it. Fast-forward to this year and while blood-trailing a buck one of my brothers had hit, we found the skull of the guy's buck in a creek. The buck was a 10-point grossing 154! And I had never gotten that buck on camera, so he was not a buck that used my place much.

 

[megalomaniac]

Glad you found him! I can't remember, you put dogs on the trail after the initial track proved unrecoverable?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Glad you found him! I can't remember, you put dogs on the trail after the initial track proved unrecoverable?

I tried. Talked to 2 guys advertised for my area. Both gave me great advice and agreed the deer would die (heard him coughing after the shot and you could see bright red blood he was coughing up every 60 yards or so until it stopped). One couldn't make it out due to schedule and the other could, but it would be several hours past the optimal timeframe the following day.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Early in the 2020 deer season, ran into a guy trespassing on my place. Turned out he had been bowhunting on a neighboring property and hit what he said was a huge 10-point. He showed me the blood-covered broken off arrow. I gave him permission to continue looking for the buck and gave him some suggestions of where to look. He contacted me later and said he never found it. Fast-forward to this year and while blood-trailing a buck one of my brothers had hit, we found the skull of the guy's buck in a creek. The buck was a 10-point grossing 154! And I had never gotten that buck on camera, so he was not a buck that used my place much.

It always amazes me what is found while trailing big deer, but it doesn't surprise me…..because we purposely stay out of a lot of those areas.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I'll also add this for context. According to Huntstand, the blood trail went for over 400 yards before we lost blood. Where the deer was found was just slightly over 1100 yards!! These things are resilient.

 

[TN Larry]

I did indeed. I wasn't even looking for him. I was flagging an old 2 track Saturday morning that we will be having dozed soon (making a new trail system on our place).

In the pic, the X is where I shot him, the continuous line is his blood trail, the dotted line is his likely path (based on me thinking I heard him while trailing and typical deer travel) and the yellow is where I spent 10 hours looking for him. Found him at the dot

Glad you found him and got some closure. I was pretty sure from your posts that he was dead. Stinks you didn't find him when you shot him but nice to know. Is he as big as you thought he was?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Glad you found him and got some closure. I was pretty sure from your posts that he was dead. Stinks you didn't find him when you shot him but nice to know. Is he as big as you thought he was?

The closure is definitely the best part. He's slightly smaller than what I recall. Well, I guess really the only thing I thought was different was his width. I thought he was about 3-4" wider. But looking straight down on him from 28' up can create a different illusion. I do remember his g2's shining in the sun, particularly his left one.

 

[Mcboom]

Glad you found him. I remember all the effort you gave looking for him. And ground shrinkage is a for real thing

 

[Wrangler95]

Early in the 2020 deer season, ran into a guy trespassing on my place. Turned out he had been bowhunting on a neighboring property and hit what he said was a huge 10-point. He showed me the blood-covered broken off arrow. I gave him permission to continue looking for the buck and gave him some suggestions of where to look. He contacted me later and said he never found it. Fast-forward to this year and while blood-trailing a buck one of my brothers had hit, we found the skull of the guy's buck in a creek. The buck was a 10-point grossing 154! And I had never gotten that buck on camera, so he was not a buck that used my place much.

Did you let the hunter know that you found his buck,just curious?

 

[BSK]

Did you let the hunter know that you found his buck,just curious?

I have not yet, but I will. I'm sure he'll be glad to have it.

 

[DoubleRidge]

I did indeed. I wasn't even looking for him. I was flagging an old 2 track Saturday morning that we will be having dozed soon (making a new trail system on our place).

In the pic, the X is where I shot him, the continuous line is his blood trail, the dotted line is his likely path (based on me thinking I heard him while trailing and typical deer travel) and the yellow is where I spent 10 hours looking for him. Found him at the dot

Good deal....glad you got closure.... amazing how far they can go....also glad you recovered the skull before the dozer got there! Nice buck....congrats!

 

[Wrangler95]

I have not yet, but I will. I'm sure he'll be glad to have it.

That is nice of you,I sure would like to know if I was him!

 

[Hduke86]

At the "dot" where you found him, is there a creek?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

At the "dot" where you found him, is there a creek?

No creek, but just south of the dot at the head of the hollow are our 2 ponds. He was within 150 yards of the lower pond. I could see the dam from his carcass

 

[backyardtndeer]

That was a nice buck. Too bad you didn't find him after shooting him.

I am not great at aging teeth, but would guess 5.5.

 

[Gravey]

No idea on age but glad you found him and get some closure.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

No idea on age but glad you found him and get some closure.

There really is nothing like getting closure, as you and others have mentioned. I have replayed that scenario over and over and tried to figure out what exactly happened. I was able to place the crosshairs exactly where I wanted. It was about an 8 yard shot. I wouldn't have changed a thing. Sucks how it played out, but I will LEARN from it and do things differently next time. Switching powder and bullets, as well as expand perimeters.

If you look at that map, when I was headed down that point where I lost blood, I knew I heard something across and up the next ridge. It didn't sound like a deer, but I knew I heard something constantly moving. I had my mind set that he was headed down and headed towards a big creek with springs just off our property. I was wrong and if I had given what I heard more consideration and that he had pivoted, I would have strategized differently and likely would have walked that hollow I found him in.

 

[AT Hiker]

Hard to tell by pictures but do you think he was dead when you and the dogs were trailing him?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Hard to tell by pictures but do you think he was dead when you and the dogs were trailing him?

I never got around to having a dog come out. One said he couldn't come due to schedule and the other could, but it wouldn't be until a few hours after optimal time to find a deer. He was also pricey and I truly believed the deer kept going down the hollow and off our property to a big spring down there and I knew we wouldn't get permission. So, I never got him to come out. Obviously, I wish I did now.

I do believe he was dead before dark that day - shot him at 8:15 am, if I recall correctly. I dissected the area and his skeleton like it was a crime scene. I found his right shoulder blade, but couldn't find his left one (that's the one I shot). I just wanted to figure out exactly what happened and how it deflected. It looked like the first couple ribs could have been shattered at the ends, so I'm thinking it hit the left shoulder and deflected right. Some fragments or just energy of the impact affected his lungs because he was coughing within 20 seconds. He was standing a hard quarter-to and I was straight up above him. I believe there was no exit, so little to no blood trail - just when he coughed it up. Still don't know how he didn't drop in his tracks, but I'll be changing to Blackhorn 209 powder and possibly a different bullet. Will add a lot more foot pounds of energy just by making a powder change.