Just curious what you think the percentage is of bucks that will elude hunters all their lives and die of old age?

around here i'd say 5-10% is a realistic figure. they get pretty chewed up in rifle season

Hard to say, as no one hardly ever sees them in the first place.

Well figuring they claim a whitetail can life 20 years, I'd say 1%...if that. Many may die of natural causes but not through a realistic life span. I'd bet there are many, let's say bucks that make 6 years old and die over a winter etc...but they are barely an old deer yet. A deer isn't even considered mature until he's in his 5th year, (is that right?) and the percentage that see 5 years are low.

I learn something every day. I've heard their natural life span was more like 12 years.

Jeff

In some areas in NY it is 1.5 years

Who knows I have never come across one in the field.

Just because they may elude hunters sure doesn't mean they will die of old age. And most death to wild animals are an aweful lot worse then what we try to accomplish with our bows.

Rob,

Is this like a record or something. Seems much longer than what I've heard. I've heard between 10 and 12 years, like SB.

Is the 20 yr and anomaly?

Tom

all I know is that very few die naturally. I'm assuming the biggest ones die naturally, imo

Seems opinion varies even on what we read on the species. I posted that, just the other night I watched that special that has been running for years about the Whitetail Deer on The Discovery Channel and I remember hearing them say 20 years.

Here I did a search on yahoo:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Whitetail+Deer+Lifespan&ei=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&fr=moz2

The opinion varies to a maximum life span of 20 years to a lifespan of 13-15 years, to 18 years to zoo to wild etc.... I wonder what the hard facts are and perhaps there isn't any hard facts.

I'll concur and say 13-15 years with a max of 20 years, why not..lol

With that, think about how many if not all of us and all the treestand hours jointly, gun hunts, people we know, etc...etc..think about the vastness of all those numbers accumulated, how many know of a deer ever taken by a hunter over 10 years old? Imagine....