UPDATE: Another interesting history thread

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
From time to time, I will get a picture of an old gnarly, lumpy doe that I just know has to be a very old deer. Unfortunately there's just no way to prove it or track them from year to year. This old doe is the exception. She is blind in her right eye, from an injury, and I believe she may have been shot with an arrow about (or exactly) the same time. I believe a 2" 2-blade from a hunting partner brushed her eye and buried in her right shoulder

Here she is in 2012 shortly after sustaining the eye injury. She was good sized then, most likely 3 1/2 years old or older. She has a 2" wide scar on her right shoulder, which happens to line up with a large mark across her eye. It's not the best picture to show it, but you can see she is in poor condition. She is actually quite thin.

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Here she is in 2013. She recovered well, and filled out nicely. All except for that eye. Big old girl.

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2014 - not the best pic, but the only one I got

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2015 - again not the best pic, but she looks like she's thinning out.

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2016 - No pic

2017 - Here she is again, a good pic showing that she is well past her prime

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I believe she is now 8 1/2+ years old. She has lived her entire life in an area with a very high coyote population, and quite a bit of hunting pressure. I tried to kill her for several years, but she never showed herself. I think if I see her now, I'll just tip my hat. :D
 

dlbaile

Ten Pointer
Showes us how resilent they are just plain out tough, looks like she has had a good but sometimes hard life.She deserves that pass would give her the same respect as you,thanks for posting that.
 

UncleFester

Old Mossy Horns
Very cool timeline of photos on that old girl. Hope she makes it a while longer. Ever see any shots of her with any fawns?
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Very cool timeline of photos on that old girl. Hope she makes it a while longer. Ever see any shots of her with any fawns?

Not that I recall. She has always been pretty reclusive. I only get a few pictures a year of her, sometimes just one encounter, yet over the years she has been captured on several different camera all over the property. I haven't captured any pictures of fawns since she was injured and I was able to keep up with her.
 

UncleFester

Old Mossy Horns
These old deer with character are always of interest to me. In fact a big old doe with a broken ear is one I really regret not having mounted. I had targeted her for three years and was able to connect two years ago. Her right ear hung straight down, no clue what caused it. In hindsight I should have left her alone. I never did see her with less than two fawns.
 

Banjo

Old Mossy Horns
That is really cool.

Funny story. I was on a doe only hunt with some friends in Talbott County GA. They failed to tell me that they had an old doe that they had been watching for several years. Her right ear was wounded and flopped over. Well, just before dark, I shot her. When we got back to camp they all hollered "you killed floppy". They weren't mad, since they failed to tell me.
 

GotNoRules

Ten Pointer
Very neat story, I like the idea of passing and "tipping the hat". Let the ol gal live her life, she won that battle. Like many have said before, these animals are tough!!
 

Eggman

Twelve Pointer
Cool story. I have an old doe on my place just like her. She has been there since I purchased the property. She is blind in one eye and always the matriarch of the doe group.
 

30/06

Twelve Pointer
We had one a few years ago with a hole in her jaw/side of her face. You could see the corn literally fall through the hole as she was eating. Thought she was a goner for sure, she made it for several more years. Healed up, hair grew in darker where the wound was, she was shot at night in bean field next door on depredation permit. Same exact thing happened to a 3 legged doe we had on the place. They took a toll on em that summer.
 
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sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I figured I would update this thread. This old doe, now 9 1/2+, has been quite visible on camera this year. I have gotten more pics of her this year than the past 5 years combined. She actually looks to be in good shape - much better shape than she was in at the end of last summer. It's just amazing to me that with most deer in NC being killed before their 3rd birthday, this doe has been able to evade hunters for so long. I have still never seen her from the stand.


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stormm4

Big Ole Nanny Doe
Cool story. I have a doe I saw run, step in a hole and broke her front right leg in 2012. I named her tripod. Every year produces twins and although her leg is now bent up and mangled, she’s still kicking at the other does constantly over corn. She’s one I watch for on camera to see if she’s still alive. I see her on stand some times and have agreed to pass her because I love seeing her twins every year follow her as she hops along.
 

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
That one would always get pass for 2 reasons she earned it and number 2 pass on them wise genes she little smarter than rest avoiding predators all that time. Of course you could look at it like need dumber deer so don't want her to pass on genes
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
She’s always got that head up in the pics, then again you could be cherry picking those for us to easily see it’s her.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I think it is wise to pass all "big ole does" they are gold come October. I assume younger does taste as good. they would be far less useful for early rut action.

now I have run into some "Nosey ole does" that were awful tempting to kill for their abilities to blow for 100 times consecutively.
Very unique deer you have there Sky Hawk. Thanks for sharing.
 

grim reaper

Ten Pointer
Yep she's ancient. Had an old scraggly doe I was gonna shoot a couple years back but was after a nice buck at the time so decided not to. In the end the old doe is the only reason I killed that buck. He was chasing her on December 8th and I've wondered if I would have ever got him had I shot her earlier. That was the most time I'd ever spent chasing a deer
 
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