16 Year old buck story...may be a big fish story?

[Swiftkid]

Acouple months ago a guy told me a story...this is how it went. A guy owned a orchard, this farmer who farmed the land was out irrigatin during deer season, i'm assuming he had a license and tag..well the farmer had known there had been a buck in his orchard that ate off his trees for the past couple of years...he had seen him running around for acouple years now. The farmer ran into the buck during the season irrigatin, pulled out his rifle out of the truck the buck ran across a draw and the farmer put him down once the buck got across the draw. Once he got to the buck he noticed the deer had been taged by the Wildlife department. He called the game department gave them the number off the tag and they game out to the house to get some hair samples and a tooth..about a month later they called back and notified the farmer the buck he had killed was 16 years old. Now this is definitely the oldest deer i've ever heard of but, i think it might of been one of those big fish stories that turns a 12 inch trout into a salmon...except this buck went from 8 years old to 16...maybe not? What do you guys think?

[addicted]

  to get some hair samples and a tooth..

i dont think there would be any teeth 

[Firstlight]

Sounds Like a story.    Did the Deer have a cane or a walker? Where did it get its Oxygen bottles filled?

[Bigshooter]

In the last issue of hunting illustrated there was a question on how long deer live.  They said that wild deer live to be around 10 years old.  But they also said that captive deer have lived as long as 22 years old.  So I guess it could be possible for a farm feed deer maybe to be 16.

[DeerHarvester]

A 16 year old deer is not out of the question, it is possible.  However I don't know why they would collect hair from the deer, as it holds no value in age?... 

[grizzlygibbs]

probably dna make up.  to see if there is any cross breeding? 

[WAPITIHUNTER]

A few years back my cousin hunted "Wison Creek" as a Master Hunter. He shot a doe that was 12 years old. No BS here. The teeth were worn down all the way to the gum line. He said it was still good eatin and tender.

[mossback91]

I could see it happening especially if it was always on the farm....... a safe place to stay with an abundance of easy to eat food....

[blacktail luv]

I was watching deer and deer hunting on the outdoor channel a couple months ago (very informative show ) and they tracked a deer for his whole life, obviously on a farm with no predators.  His best antler growth was a 5.5 and virtually the same at 6.5 them downhill from there.  He died at the age of 12 from cancer, so i guess 16 could be possible, but how could you tell once they get that old?

[Swiftkid]

The deer had been taged when it was a yearling and from the tag number they could identify how old it was since they knew it was a yearling when they tagged it. I heard that almost all the teeth were gone, probaly why it makes since he would be eating in an orchard all the time...easy to chew.

[Buschingc]

Wonder what he would have eaten during the winter months with no teeth....

[mossback91]

rotten apples

[Huntbear]

Deer dying from cancer? omg, the cig companies need to quit marketing those deer cigarettes!!!!   

I know a guy who shot a forked buck that was so old, he told me the deer was having a hard time walking... looked real stiff, like he had arthritis.  Kinda like me on a cold damp morning 

Teeth were worn down to gums, and face was completely white.  Hair samples in today's world give a wealth of info to someone that knows how to get it.... what they have been eating, any toxins, dna, etc. etc..