Saturday morning (11/22) my wife shot her biggest buck to date, and what I'd estimate to be the oldest deer I've ever seen. The buck was an 18 1/8" wide 7 pointer, was blind in its right eye, and was missing all or parts of 5 teeth, with the remainder very worn. I've emailed images of the teeth to a biologist I know, but I'd estimate the buck at 8 1/2 years or older.

She put 2 120gr Barnes XLC's out of her .260 Rem. through him. The first shot was a bit far back, but still got the lungs. When the deer didn't die fast enough to suit her, she shot him through the lungs again again, clipping just a bit of meat on one shoulder. She said that the insides looked like they had been hit with a blender, but as far as the meat went, the wounds were "eat up to hole".

Here's the photo.



Troy

[ 11-24-2003, 06:38: Message edited by: tcencore260 ]

Cute wife, pretty rifle and impressive deer, Troy. You done good.

the deer biologist I sent photos of the teeth to concurred with my age estimate - at least 8 1/2 years old, maybe older.

Troy

An old buck like this one is a much nicer trophy like a young buck with big antlers. Congratulations!