Dead head from this season

[Marble]

Found this dead head the other day. Haven't ever seen him at the ranch on camera. He had 6 to 7 vertebrae still attached just laying in the grass in the low part of a small brush patch. I couldn't find the rest of the body. I'll still be searching during turkey season for the rest of the body. I was curious on age and cause of death.

 

[kickemall]

Did you check for bite marks in the vertebrae you found? Grown bucks are often lion kills. Could be anything though. Lion, bobcat, bear kill, somebody crippled it, injured by car or fall and finally died, got sick, you name it.

 

[Marble]

No I'd didn't but I can. They haven't been touched.

Saw another buck this morning that has shed his horns. It's the 4th year hes had horns. Trying to find his sheds.

 

[roosiebull]

bummer!

looks like a nice buck with great potential. how did his teeth look? I know it's a crap shoot, but judging by the antlers, i'm getting the 4.5yr old vibe from that buck. wonder what did kill him.

lions surely target rut/post rut bucks, is that the timeframe you think he died in? any hunting pressure around?

 

[Marble]

No hunting pressure but me .

No lions to speak of on the ranch lately but you never know. There is a portion of the ranch I do not have permission to hunt. He could have came from there but idk.

 

[MeatBuck]

Look at the base of the skull behind the antlers for canine bite marks.

Looks like 3 yr old. Get on YouTube and find the "how to age deer by teeth" videos, the ones I watched were about whitetail but were extremely informative and had a quiz to see if u knew what they were teaching. I now use the method to age my bucks every season.

Here's the first video, find the rest of the videos and watch em.

 

[Mike Islander]

We found a decent size 7 point with full skeleton on the farm a couple weeks ago. Could not determine cause of death. Did not look all chewed up, but I know we have a few coyotes running around.

 

[Marble]

Look at the base of the skull behind the antlers for canine bite marks.

Looks like 3 yr old. Get on YouTube and find the "how to age deer by teeth" videos, the ones I watched were about whitetail but were extremely informative and had a quiz to see if u knew what they were teaching. I now use the method to age my bucks every season.

Here's the first video, find the rest of the videos and watch em.

Thank you!!!

I watched and have to agree. Seems like 3.5 years old.