30 year old sheds

[antlerradar]

I have often been asked how long sheds will last outside. It depends on a lot of factors like the number of rodents and how protected from the weather they are. This buck was taken in 1961. I found his antlers in 88 and 91. I also found the matches but both of them were in tough shape even though I found the larger match in 81. One of the best bucks ever from Eastern Montana. 192 6/8 net with a 200 inch + net typical frame.

Antlerradar

 

[OriginalOscar]

Any chance it might be sheds from his great great grandkids with his genetics?

My opinion. 10 years sheds are done. Weather and rodents cycle them back.

Let the debate start!

Very very nice buck and congrats. Rack and body look huge.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Heck of a buck no doubt. 200 net on the typical frame as a 3X4?

That shed was found 30 years after he was killed and you're thinking the same animal?

I've found several antlers I'm fairly certain off deer and elk I've taken, but none more than 2-3 years before/after taken.

I picked an antler and hung it in a tree in '99. It's still there and in the same condition, as of 6 months ago.

20-30 years? Not saying impossible.

 

[The Hedgehog]

That right beam has got to be knocking on 30 inches

 

[antlerradar]

I am sure that they are from the buck. The larger antler was found with in a few hundred yards of were the buck was shot. Both antlers were in thick juniper. The other side to the bigger antler was 300 yard away but in open sage. All the points were gone and it was very rotten even though I found it 10 years earlier. I also have the benefit of being able to hold the antlers in the same position as the buck in the picture. The curves in the points are identical. I have found at least 20 old elk antlers in SE Montana in the 80s. Elk didn't live here until the 90s. Those antlers had to be from the elk that were hunted out in the 20s. I have also found a sheep skull. Also hunted out in the 20s. I have found around a dozen buffalo horns. Hunted out in the 1880s. Stuff will last a long time in an arid climate. There are antlers in the hills right now that I found in the 80s and left. I walked by one last year. Not in very good shape but still there.

Antlerradar

 

[antlerradar]

One who is not so green,
The buck is an 8 by 5. You just can't see the 11 inch + G3 on the right side. I got the score sheet from B&C. The buck is listed in the 64 book but dropped out when the minimum was increased to 195 and never relisted when the minimum was lowered to 190. The right MB is 27. The measurements on the larger antler are within a few eighths on all measurements except the MB(1 6/8 shorter) and the two points that are chewed .
Antlerradar

 

[antlerradar]

I goofed, you cant see the left G3.

Antlerradar

 

[Bambistew]

There is a sheep herder "monument" near one of my family's old alotments... the alters in it are pushing 100 years of being stacked ther, no clue how old they were before they where stacked. I think in the right conditions sheds can last for a really long time. The condition may very, but I think if they escape the first year or two of varmint snacking and are not in direct sun... they will be there forever. They're bone, and bone can last thousands of years. I read an article a while back where some caribou antlers found in Idaho were dated at nearly 1000 years.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Got a pile in my grandparents yard that was there when they bought the place in 1956 so easily 60+ years old. They have been looking really ragged lately though.

 

[dcopas78]

Kinda a different climate/conditions but I have polished antler cutoffs that were used for arrow tips by the Fort Ancient culture (Native American) that are in excess of 400 years old. My neighbor has a pile of antlers on his split-rail fence that I know have been there since I was a kid and I am 36 now so they are pushing 30 years old and this is in southern Ohio which is way more humid and moist than out there. They are weathered and bleached but still pretty solid.

 

[teamhoyt]

maybe a bit off topic but in 99 I was in a guys barn in Ore Grande NM and he had an antelope skull with a stone arrowhead embedded in it. It was either really old or a fake. But I presume its possible.

 

[antlerradar]

I don't want any one to get the idea I shot this buck other than in my dreams. I found the sheds. This is what I know about the buck. He was taken by a hunter from Harrisburg PA. On a guided hunt with a neighbor. I am not giving his name. I was able to talk to him about 10 years ago and he gave me the story of the hunt. I asked him if he still had the deer as I would like a better picture of the buck. He told me all his family's western heads had hung in the family business (I think it was a hotel) until recently when they sold the business when they donated the heads to a local museum. I said that he would go to the museum and get me a pic. About two weeks later he called me back and informed me that the museum didn't have the buck. I could tell he was a bit unhappy about the deal. Apparently the museum took all of the head to a taxidermist to get remounted and this buck never made it back to the museum. The taxidermist either swiped the head or made a deal with some museum employ that knew very little about big deer. Ether was the head is missing. I would love to know were it is now.

Antlerradar

 

[JEL]

Great buck and thanks for sharing the sheds and the interesting story. Cool cabin too. Is it still standing?

 

[The Hedgehog]

Makes a guy wonder how old some of the chalk white horns are you pick up. I keep coming back to this thread to gawk at that vintage photo of an amazing deer.

 

[antlerradar]

The cabin is still there. There was a lot of big bucks taken here in the late 50s and 60s. I can think of three others taken with in 5 miles of were this buck was taken that have typical frames that net over 195. I have been pounding the hills for 35 years and I have only seen two bucks that would even come close to this buck and both of them were over 20 years ago. Our neighbor's photo album is unreal and he tells me they didn't take pictures of many of the big bucks they took. The stories he and my father tell make me want a time machine.

Antlerradar

 

[earlybird]

Back then they probably shot him for the meat over the horns.

 

[putm2sleep]

This is a pig deer!!!! And I love that meat pole!!!!!! Thanks for posting.

Probably not same sheds - unless they were stored nicely in that gorgeous cabin! - would say good genes. (have a lot of bulls behind the shed and in the shed that are from the same pool, not sheds)
Shot for meat for sure!

 

[JEL]

Dream cabin right there. Love eastern Montana. Also love visiting with old timers that hunted that country back in those days.

 

[Festus]

This is a pig deer!!!! And I love that meat pole!!!!!! Thanks for posting.

I work for a log home company and I'm going to add that meat pole as an option/upgrade in our new catalogs this winter!!!

 

[putm2sleep]

I work for a log home company and I'm going to add that meat pole as an option/upgrade in our new catalogs this winter!!!

I have a patent on that


I am still laughing, I think that is kickass.

I will take the meat pole option Festus please.

12 footer.......

Well, that is good to know too man in all seriousness, I hope to purchase land soon here, and need a cabin with meat pole!