-
Help Support TNDeer:
Found a shooter
- Thread starter megalomaniac
- Start date
CHRIS WILSON
Well-Known Member
Definitely a bummer. He was a dandy.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Any idea on cause of death?
That sucks,good buck
Well he was a shooter for sure. Not a huge scorer but not one I'd pass. Looks like an old guy face, which is a trophy for me. Sorry to see him go to waste like that.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
I would assume the neighbors... he's about 100y from their line. They said they havent shot anything since before Thanksgiving. Was a healthy 225lb deer a few weeks ago. 500y from any road, so unlikely to be road hunters or car wreck. Our 4.5yos don't usually just up and die... unless shot first!
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
That stinks....but by finding the skull at least you know he's off the list.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Shame for one to be wasted like that, but like said above at least you know he is dead.
Sure didn't take nature long to clean everything up.
Sure didn't take nature long to clean everything up.
Euro
wsm
Well-Known Member
Tough luck ,but glad you found him now you know .
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
We figured him for 125, just not a buck an adult would want to shoot as their only buck of choice and season is over. Same premise for most of you guys operating under a 2 buck limit and you had already killed a 140in as your first buck... you wouldn't want to tag out on this guy as your 2nd. But a perfect buck for a kid.
He ended up scoring 118in... so technically he could have met my 'cull' criteria, but I had already put him on the 'buck of choice' list... too nice for a cull.
Strange thing is... he actually went downhill from last year. I figured him as a 3.5yo, 130in deer last year. We all passed him up in 2021. Got pics of him after season closed Jan 2022, so he was THE buck everyone was excited about for this season. There is a chance he was actually a small bodied 4.5 last year, because when looking at his upper jawbone molars (lower jawbone has been drug off) toothwear indicates 5.5 this year.
Last year pic
Attachments
Bummer
He looked huge last year!!! Those beams are LONG! I agree that he may have been older than you originally thought. I see it a lot around here where a buck looks young, has a small body, but turns out to be older than expected. My place up north is pretty straight forward for the most part. Bucks of a certain age look a certain way. Down south here it's not always so clear. I'm fooled a lot.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
22 and 22.5in beams this year. Looked about the same last year. Beams look 25in in last years pic, but that's the camera angle
22" beams are still pretty darn good for a TN buck!
That sucks! The silver lining is you know why you won't see him again.
Outdoor Enthusiast
Well-Known Member
It's amazing the difference a year made. He was a great buck last year. Did he have only 3 points on the right side? Looks like he was only a 7 pointer this year.
GOHUNT
Well-Known Member
Did you find him just like the skull picture shows? I've found a lot of skulls but rarely that clean….especially in just 2 weeks.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Yes. 8pt last year, but 7 this year. Added mass, but spread about the same and lost a point.
He did jump from est 180lbs to est 225lbs
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Yes, just like this. You must not have as many coyotes and black headed buzzards as we do. My son shot a doe 3d ago, we stripped the meat off the carcass and drug it to the back of the farm. 2d ago he shot another doe. Again drug the carcass to the back of the farm. He took a pic of the carcass from the day before... completely stripped and looked just like this one except the tendons weren't dry yet. You don't want to leave a deer overnight on my farms... ive had coyotes on carcasses as soon as 30 minutes after leaving.
But regardless, deer was alive and healthy and on trail cam 11/30
