Which makes ya wonder how old bucks really get? Studies claim I think 10-12 years tops. But I bet it's twice that if conditions are favorable and predators are low.
No I think that's wrong. Virtually everywhere a 10+ male deer is absolutely ancient. Does live a lot longer than bucks, but very, VERY few bucks hit double digits.
Interesting mention on a recent Meat Eater podcast by a deer biologist who found it utterly laughable that guys thought they could age a deer by looking at its body or its antlers. Apparently it's actually been studied and nobody is better than random chance. Tooth age is the only reliable way to go after they're past spikes.
I'm just going by a couple of bucks I've observed over the years. One I saw every year as a 2pt, ended up getting that one on the eleventh year, meat was tough as leather and had no teeth but otherwise still seemed healthy enough to live a couple more years. The other a 4pt I've seen every year for 13 which makes me believe he's 16+ years.
Man, I love this stuff! Captivity studies have does maxing out around 16 years. Could a buck live that long - absolutely, but probably not more than one in a hundred thousand or so. Perhaps half that. Who knows, it's not very many. Griiz either has the WA BT deer bulletin/book or posted one of my earlier scans regarding antlers. I believe that book has age range for bucks in captivity. I'm not going to hazard a guess and it's getting near midnight, when I'd rather guess than research. Twelve may be the average max age for wild bucks (from memory (Which ain't that hot anymore))., but there are always outliers.
You are all aware that the negative effects of rutting on a buck is a major limiting factor in the age a buck may achieve once it has survived the first few years of life. Hunters and other predators start picking 'em off once they get slow, injured, or sick. Immune systems are similar to all other animals, and past the age of nine or ten, they are truly getting into geriatrics, when it doesn't take a heck of a lot to turn a healthy animal into a dying one. They tend to age a lot like dogs, and I've yet to have a dog make thirteen years (though I have a 12.5 currently). Every once in awhile, you see a dog get past fifteen though.
I believe (right or wrong) that you can absolutely age a blacktail buck up to age 4.5 on body characteristics alone. Past that point, best guessing is based on a combination of body mass, antler mass/knurling, shape of the nose and size of the eye in relation to the head, regressive appearance of tines, etc.. While virtually all old bucks display a white muzzle, it turned out that this characteristic is not enough evidence on which to base the age of a buck prior to committing to a shot.
Some younger BT bucks have very white muzzles.
