Old Palmated Brute Down 11/2 * Aging Received *

It was a clear,cold start to the day as I settled in 20 feet up in the big oak stand.
While it was certainly chilly, I never had time to feel it.
Shortly after 7, I hear a branch break and here comes a doe with a huge buck on her tail.
They angled away from me at 30 yards as I nervously fumbled in my vest for my range finder. When I managed to range him the doe was out of sight, and he was at 38 yards.
Before I could shoot, he walked off to the doe.
Opportunity Blown!
I grabbed my grunt call and gave 2 grunts. Not expectedly, here he comes!
Unfortunately, he came straight to my tree and as he got 15 feet below me I drew and shot him.
He moved off at a fast walk and stood there. He then slowly walked down the hill and stood there for 10 minutes. He then started getting jello legs and bedded down 50 yards from me.
I was forced to watch him, and wish and will him to expire, but he fought it hard.
He was almost out when all of a sudden 2 coyotes came along and started trying to eat him! The buck was mortally wounded and couldn't get up to run and the yotes knew it.
Thankfully I yelled and whistled and they ran off.
Knowing he couldn't get up I climbed down and stalked in for a 20 yard finishing shot to the heart.
This was a huge bodied animal, well over 200 lbs on the hoof and his rack sported heavy mass, palmation and 9 scorable points.
Huge thanks to my brothers Greg S and Attsakeeper Eric for helping to drag and hang this beast.
What an amazing hunt and to share it with great friends makes it all the sweeter!

Fantastic hunt and great looking buck!

Nice Jon !!
Good old buck met a great deer hunter today !! Congrats !

Wow. Beautiful deer. Amazing how the grunt tube can just stop them and bring them in.

Great buck Congrats !

Awesome Jon! Your relentless efforts have paid off.

ZDAMNNNnnnnnzzz!!!....is that a deer or a MOOSE???!!

Congrats Jon! Finally something makes you just look somewhat tall instead of TALL.

Hell yea. Nice work jon

Wow Jon, that must of been absolutely amazing seeing real wild life selective harvest. They knew that big brute Was hurt and you made sure those totes would get nothing! Sweet Buck, congrats and great write up!

Congrats on a old timer

Congratulations Jon, very nice buck!

Well done sir. Great buck and good write up. Thanks for sharing and congrats

Excellent Jon! Congrats

Super deer and a great hunt, thanks for the detailed post.

AWESOME!!!

Awesome Buck Jon! Congrats!! The Bucks were on the move this weekend.

Congratulations Jon, great buck.

Very impressive buck.

Congrats!!

Excellent from start to finish. Congrats!

Great Buck! Congrats Jon! That's what it's all about!

Very cool rack! Congrats Jon.

Neat buck! It is THAT TIME!!! Glad you got a nice one...

Awesome deer congrats Jon

Congrats Jon that is a great deer! You have been putting in your time and got a really nice buck.


Next hunt for you is for those coyotes that wanted your deer! Glad you were able to scare them away!

Awesome deer!!!!!!

Congratulations what a gorgeous buck!

Nice Tank Jon!!! Congrats!!!

great deer congrats

You owe me after that uphill drag!! Congrats again!

Congrats on a great hunt !

Well Done sir.

Great trophy and report!!

Awesome buck! Gotta love when it works out unexpectedly!

Great buck!! It’s definitely time out there.

Today I received the tooth aging back from the lab on this buck.

He was 7 1/2 years old.

A true mature monarch who survived hunting pressure,predators, traffic and New England winters.

I'm very fortunate to be given the opportunity to harvest this magnificent deer.

That’s great news. Don’t think you really see many deer that old in the woods. Thanks for that info Jon.

Awesome! They are tough to outsmart when they get over 4.5 years old!
I have the Commercial account from Deerage.com and have all the envelopes and offer the service to anyone! especially the guy that bring heads for euro mounts.
I now like age all bucks I take that look like they may be Mature.

Wow great buck! Crazy about the coyotes.

That's good to know. I also had them age a big 10 pointer from a few years ago. He was 5 1/2 years old.
[img]http://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/pi...499_zpsa585f2b4[/img]

7 1/2 years old is ancient. I have shot a few old bucks but nothing that had palmation in the rack. That is so unusual. What a trophy.
Checking out the QDMA website there was an article about old deer, their racks, and other facts. There were also a bunch of other interesting articles on other topics.
https://www.qdma.com/10-former-whitetail-hotties-not-age-well/

Soooo... gotta ask How was the meat? Lifetime supply of jerky or reasonably palatable?

AWESOME, Jon !

Bob
The loins, backstraps and steaks were fine but the burger is chewier than usual.
Not bad though very palatable.

Wow 7 1/2 that's is a old bruiser!

Interesting about the burger. Next time you get an old one make salami and hot sticks!

Congrats again on a great deer.

And he came home from Wild Arts on Thursday.
Now I need to find a spot for him.

I gotta spot for you...

You should leave him there.

Congrats again

That's right - Just have your wife sit on the floor - supposed to be "good for your back" tell her.

We're still in the negotiation stages of where he will live.
Ok so the basement is out because he deserves better, our bedroom is apparently been vetoed, the dining room is out because "it's looking at us eat"...so...most likely in our family room which is our main hang out room. I have the go ahead on a wall and just need to decide.

Jiggy do you have any wall space?

all 4 walls

Jiggy has about 6 deer racks, but they all fit in one 3 gallon bucket. (ok maybe 5 gallon bucket)