Cementum aged critters - Let’s see them..

[MTTW]

Hard not wonder what that buck would have been at 6 or 7 years of age.

And I say that knowing 99% of people don't pass on a buck like that.
Congrats and thanks for sharing.

That is something that I have wondered about. Here is a buck that my brother shot out of the same draw on the same trip. It was aged at 3 and it dwarfed mine body wise. Hard telling.

 

[belshawelk]

Rattle vs 45

 

[texwest44]

Dang, if we had started this thread a few days ago I could have gotten some microscope pictures of some lake trout otoliths I aged earlier this week. MT FWP has them now, maybe I can get them to send me some pictures.

There are very few old lake trout left in Flathead Lake, btw. Average age was about 3 years old out of all of our sample fish.

 

[nontyp]

Old girl!

Waiting on results from my wife's bull from this year.
View attachment 391710

that’s crazy. i bet he’s closer to 20 than 10.

 

[nontyp]

Aged at 6 by Matson’sAged at 7 by Matson’s
Aged at 6 by Matson’s

 

[DFS]

Yeah . . . all you guys bitchin' on other threads about mule deer in Montana should probably stop posting all these great bucks if you want to remain believable.

Joking aside, there are some beautiful bucks on this thread!

I will have to get the photo album out for more whitetail bucks. My mule deer bucks are from Colorado, except the youngest I shared he was a private land Cheetos eater from Montana and lucky to survive as long as he did.

 

[Letthemgrow]

This is my favorite thread in a long time. Educational, fun, and not devolving into a poop throwing contest. Yet.

 

[bigsky2]

11.5

 

[wytex]

7.5 by WG&F

 

[Hammsolo]

Needed a bit of lower jaw repair sometime in his life

Think it was genetic deformity, injury, infection? The teeth lean to genetic deformity I think.

 

[Hammsolo]

Doesn't say these have to be personal harvests. On the heals of @Caseknife post above and my 2017 6-7 year old bull above thought this article from May/June 2018 Bugle would be a good spot to share. One of the more difficult things to accept is that some (most?) critters won't get "big." In my feeble mind I still think an 8+ year old bull is always gonna go over 300", or that to get to 400" a bull needs to live 8+ years. Just not the case.

Still have the jaw here at the lab. I rub it each season for good luck as it will probably be the closest to a 400" bull I get .

2016 Steve Felix Archery World record Montana bull. 6A.

View attachment 391733

Genetics. Think about humans. Shaq, Lebron, Bolt, and how about the Mountain from Game of Thrones? This year I shot what appeared to be the bigger of two brothers. Identical twins start with the same genetics, but due to environmental and resource facts drastically change. ChatGPT is so weird and fun. I asked it to put me in the middle of these two hulks. That is not me… but it is hilarious.

 

[Mule Kick]

Genetics. Think about humans. Shaq, Lebron, Bolt, and how about the Mountain from Game of Thrones? This year I shot what appeared to be the bigger of two brothers. Identical twins start with the same genetics, but due to environmental and resource facts drastically change. ChatGPT is so weird and fun. I asked it to put me in the middle of these two hulks. That is not me… but it is hilarious.

View attachment 391847

You gonna pull 1 of their teeth to get it aged?