Tank, good news bad news

Well the good news is that Tank, a buck I have 4 years history with showed back up on our farm last week. He was a stud last year and I was hoping to get him killed, but that didn’t happen. The bad news is he is getting older and going down hill. If this is him and I really think it is he probably lost half his mass this year. Maybe it’s just and off spring of him, but I think it’s actually him. Here is last year and this years pics of him. The bladed G2 on his right side is how we have followed this deer since 2013

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That looks like a younger deer to me. But with only one picture it’s hard to say for sure.

I am on the fence with that too, but I only got the one pic so far. Hopefully I will get more this week and determine if that is him or an offspring of his.

I also doubt it’s him. Son of Tank, maybe…

It’s always so difficult to tell with the camera angle being different, etc.

Also, do deer really go into that steep of a decline on the rack size? I can understand how age and maybe an injury could impact body size just because the deer was unable to feed as much as they used to, but would that knock back the rack size that much?

Grouse

The 2nd deer has nice tine length but does not look like it has a substantial rack width. May be a younger deer.

I agree with younger deer. In the pic from last year, it looks like he has a big, filled out chest/belly. That doesn’t appear to be the case in this years photo leading me to believe that it is a different deer.

I think it’s Jr. Looks to be a younger deer to me, judging by the distance from the bottom of his belly to the ground

Different buck.. rest easy. Its a more gradual decline.

Agreed with it being a different buck, looks like Tank 2.0 is on the come up!

Looks like a different deer to me. The body mass just does not look the same. It looks like you have food plots so access to food should have been there even if he was injured.

Tank lived, he finally came back. I am going to do everything in my power to harvest him this year.

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sticker wrote:

Tank lived, he finally came back. I am going to do everything in my power to harvest him this year.

Thumbs up! Good Luck!

Well, it wasn’t me, but even better my son harvested Tank on Saturday night. We were both very excited!! He lost some body size this year and weighed 200lbs dressed. We green scored him at 140 1/8.

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aka MR. Twigsnaps! Tell your boy congrats!

Still a good lookin buck.

That is an awesome deer! Congrats! It must be really rewarding to follow a deer like that and then things come together! Some day I hope to have land of my own that I can do the same.

CaptainMusky wrote:

That is an awesome deer! Congrats! It must be really rewarding to follow a deer like that and then things come together! Some day I hope to have land of my own that I can do the same.

It absolutely was, this was only the second deer in 15 years that I have been able to follow for several years and then harvest. Funny, but the other one was also a big 9 point that I harvested. He also had a lot of mass and tall tines. May even be related. That was in 2011 and I had 3 years history with him.

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A little better pic of Tank this year

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Nice deer for sure! Cool history with a couple VERY nice deer.

Just got the test results from forensic cementum annuli aging of Tank. He was 8.5 years old!!!

What an awesome deer with the smarts to live that long! A true warrior in my mind

Wow that’s awesome taking a deer that old is very cool.

Imagine dodging arrows, bullets, and cars for 8.5 years! Fun story. Ive only had 1 buck that i captured pics of multiple years, with no idea what happened to him.

sticker wrote:

Just got the test results from forensic cementum annuli aging of Tank. He was 8.5 years old!!!

What an awesome deer with the smarts to live that long! A true warrior in my mind

That is so cool that you could get him aged and have the past history and pics to go with him. Awesome your son got him also.

Tank has finally gone to his final resting place at the farm. My boy got him back from the taxidermist and brought him up. He will now haunt me forever

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Great story and a great deer! Congrats sticker.

Very cool story, all your effort and a great reward for you and your son!

Tank was a perfect name. What a deer. Nice mount.

Grouse