my neighbor shot what we and the local biologist thought to be a 12 year old buck, his antlers were brittle, his coat was flabby, eyes were getting milky, and the kicker... he had 3 TEETH!

i believe quite a few of em are sneaky enough to live around 9-10 years in our parts

sometimes we find northern pike and muskies that are HUGE washed up on shore on the lakes around here. these fish are so big that they are apex preditors, nothing kills them! so they must die of old age. now thats a little different than a buck which would be considered prey.

in some parts of the country deer have no natural preditors, because man has displaced them. the bucks only threat comes from man and his car! LOL. i suspect that bucks are living very old in suburbia! otherwise places that are deviod of wolves, bears and coyotes and the like, but have very little hunting pressure do doubt have bucks dying in old age. perhaps some place out east might fit the bill.

but a buck just droping dead from natural causes must be rare indeed!

In most of the southern teir of NY state - a 4 year old buck is very old indeed!
Not many free ranging bucks drop dead of their own accord in my parts.

FH

when i first started hunting i missed a few bucks i bet atleast one of them laughed himself to death from my skills ( or lack there of)

I dont think there are too many deer in Texas that die of old age. I would say between hunters, vehicles, preditors, desease, heat..........very few survive and die of old age.

I think it would nothing short of a HUGE miracle for a buck to die from old age around these parts. Most never see thier 3rd birthday.

I believe more deer die of old age than most people think. PA is one of the most heavily hunted states. However there are large areas of woods, swamps and urban areas which just do not get hunted. There are areas which are extremely steep and areas which are are too far to be accessed from roads. My son lives in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and has a 10 point buck which rubs on a tree in his front yard next to his steps, car and main road. There is no hunting near that area and the buck has been a 10 point for at least 3 years.

I also believe some older bucks go nocturnal and are never seen..

I am too skeptical to believe that a buck in an area with moderate to heavy hunting pressure (my area) can live to be that old. The odds of seeing a three or four year old are steep enough. Besides there would be some kind of evidence of his existence (sheds, trail cam pics, sightings etc..). I have never seen myself, or heard from someone who has seen a wild buck aged over 7 years, I know there are some out there but we are talking about some pretty astronomical odds.

I believe it depends on the area, food sources year to year and many other factors...I believe very few make it in my area...heck with all the hunting pressure in Monroe wv,none make it