More Blacktail Questions

[aorams]

Hey all,

I found this today while looking for a new place to hang my camera. Can anyone tell me if there is a lesson here?  What are the odds that this buck was shot by a hunter then lost vs eaten by a predator vs a natural causes death?  Anyway to know how long it's been dead?  Does it tell me anything about whether I'm in their core range?  I found most of the skeleton with it but I couldn't tell anything in particular from it. This was among a handful of deer beds.  Thank you all again!


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[bobcat]

Close to a road? The closer to a road, the more chance it was shot, and lost. Other than that, I don't know. Could have died of natural causes, but it doesn't appear to be a very old buck. Could have been a cougar kill.

[aorams]

Pretty close to the road. I also found a set of four deer legs with the hide on near this a few weeks back.


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[billythekidrock]

What kind of road? A gravel logging road? Gated? Rural highway?

[aorams]

Tree farm road


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[deerhunter_98520]

It would be hard to tell what killed it....predator could have ambushed it in its bed, someone could have put a bad shot on it but fatally wounded it and it made its way to its bed and not left a blood trail, hit by a vehicle and wandered off....lots of things could have happened

[aorams]

Aging the skull off the tooth could give you an idea to the genetic potential to the area. If that were a 2.5 year-old buck that's some good genetics. If it were a 3.5 year-old buck then I would say it's so-so. Pretty hard to judge an area off one buck but I like the bladed look to it.

How do I age it?  I left everything in the woods as I am under the impression that it's illegal to keep stuff like that. Can I knock a tooth out and send it to a "lab"?  Thanks!


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[grizzlyadams]

Nice