The 1st couple of years of a buck' s life are devoted to skeletal development.When his body is full developed,nutrition goes towards rack development.After so many years,teeth start to wear down to the point that it can' t eat the hard mast that is crucial to maintain body and rack size.If a buck is fortunate to live past 7.5-8.5 yrs,it will slowly degenerate and eventually will die from starvation.