Older deer
 

Kind of going off of Matt's post. It was said In Matt's thread by a few people that there largest doe's are 2.5 to 3.5 years old. That doesn't hold water every where I don't think. How can a doe of 17+ years old be the size of a 160lb to 170lb buck If her teeth are bad from age? I've seen It with my own eye's. My dad's place In northern Minnesota has had the same exact doe coming In to there yard for 17+ years. They feed the deer some corn (not much) through out the winter months and they've seen this same doe for 17+ years. She has no tail (bear but), that's how they know It's her. They have other ones that they recognize also every year that are all of 7 years old. These doe's are incredibly huge, they all get bigger every year besides bear but. She just quit having fawns 2 years ago. Northern Minnesota Is not a place to get good nutrients, It's all brush and no crop land up there. The doe's around here IMO are getting much bigger with age well after 2.5 and 3.5 years old. Why the big difference between north and south? I never realized the deer (doe's) were there biggest at that young of an age down south.

RE: Older deer
 

Biggest doe that I have ever seen was 140 down here @ roughly 4.5 yrs old, They just dont get the time to live down here IDK tht is a good question

RE: Older deer
 

I set out last year to take a bunch of does from the herd. So....i asked the question of my NCWRC Wildlife Bio. (Chris Kreh)...."Which does do I need to target"? And....."How will I be able to discern them"?

His answer was surprising. Chris told me the largest does IN OUR AREA are the 2.5-3.5yr olds. He told me the older does were not discernable from the juveniles, HERE.

I'm only (on Matt's thread) repeating what the expert for my area says about them (the does).

RE: Older deer
 

I understand that Jeff 100% and I'm not arguing with you.

My question was...

RE: Older deer
 

Here I can notice the color of the hide for ages. Maybe Im wrong but I can usually tell a mature (4-6 yr olds) by lookin at features around their neck and back for a darker color.

The old man buck I killed during gun season last year was ancient! he had 2 teeth left and his hide was a distinctive color, much more dark grey than others. Some of my experienced hunting buds guessed he was 10+ yrs.

RE: Older deer
 

Hoyt:

I aksed the same question a couple years ago.....and was told hide coloration had NOTHING to do with deer age.

Schultzy:

May not be a N v. S thing. Might have more to do with herd dynamics.

RE: Older deer
 

Could be, I never thought about that.

RE: Older deer
 

here in PA i feel we can go by body size, and maybe farther, head size....

i wish i had better pics, weight, and age of a doe i killed one rifle season...i never noticed how big it was till i was looking at the pics i did get and her head is atleast as big as my scope from nose to ears...and it wasnt a long snout...the rest of the head was proportionate....in the pics, she makes my rifle look tiny....i looked back through my pics and i dont have anything that compares and ive killed some big ole does....i killed mature does like it was my job in rifle season for a while....

RE: Older deer
 

You're basing that on size alone, though, right Mauser?

Just checking.

RE: Older deer
 

2 things come to mind,either a subspecies issue,which is debateable or a climate issue.Deer from the North grow bigger due to the weather being colder and down south they stay smaller to keep cooler,forget the scientific name for it but I am sure this is part of the answer.