How Long Can a Deer Live ?

These days, we occasionally hear about 7-1/2, 8-1/2, or even 9-1/2-year-old or older whitetails eventually wearing a tag after an epic campaign. Every deer hunter and his brother is running trail cameras and able to track particular bucks for years here. The truth is, though, most wild deer never get near to those ages.

Although deer are living longer, it’s fair to argue that a 6-1/2-year-old buck in any hard-hunted area is only somewhat easier to find than a unicorn or winged Pegasus. Modern hunters are more likely to pass younger bucks. For a wild, free-ranging deer, life is so dangerous that survival to maturity calls for a lot of tumblers to click exactly so.

The Length of Deer Life: By Counts

Whether the deer in issue are captive or wild, hunted hard or softly, live in suburbania or in deep wilderness or in a CWD zone, and much more determines how long deer live. Having said that, let me quickly run over some relevant figures; then, we will discuss the details.

The oldest captive and wild whitetails on file

Like one might expect How Long Can a Deer Live, captive deer often live far longer than wild ones. Apart from their enough of food and nutrients, they lead a somewhat stress-free life that enables them to be rather geriatric than free-ranging deer. Usually does, there are several recorded cases of captive whitetails (usually) living for 18, 19, and 20 or more years at research facilities.

Leonard Lee Rue notes in his classic book, Encyclopedia of Deer, a deer that made it to the ripe old age of 23. Kip Adams of the National Deer Association claims that, to the best of knowledge, the oldest deer on record was a captive doe in Texas on the Kerr Wildlife Management Area.

On the opposite side of the fence, life is not particularly easy. Wild deer lead far more difficult lives, hence their average lifetime is not quite as lengthy. Still, there are records of unusual free-range whitetails living to shockingly long ages.

Aging a Louisiana doe at 22 years, Matson’s Laboratory in Montana, which specialized in aging wildlife (as of this writing, has examined just shy of 3 million teeth from wild creatures), aged the oldest known wild deer on record in 2013. At least one buck has made it to 17.

Deer experts from all throughout the nation have noted a few wild does living ranging from 15 to 19 years. That said, whereas geezer whitetails may be somewhat frequent in captivity, these top-end ages are quite rare in the wild and usually found in well controlled free-range ranches or research facilities.

Causes of Death Among Wild Deers

Wild deer live in a dangerous world. The biggest cause of whitetail mortality is hunters; state game departments depend on yearly shooting seasons to control deer populations. Annual whitetail harvests in some deer-rich states go in the six figures yearly.

Along with numerous Midwestern states estimating annual roadkills above 50,000 animals, vehicles kill a huge lot of deer annually. One other limiting factor on deer age can be predators. One South Carolina research recorded a 70 percent fawn mortality rate, with most killed by coyotes, therefore black bears and coyotes can be rather effective hunters of fawns. Coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, bears, and wolves all potentially kill an adult deer.

With up to half the deer in a hard-hit area lost, diseases—especially CWD and EHD—can be catastrophic to deer populations. And last, at times, weather can take major quantities of deer. In northern climates, whitetails may have long, hard winters that limit mobility, bury food supplies, and expose deer to predation.

Additionally affecting the viability of the plants deer depend on for nourishment is extreme dryness. In either harsh weather, their own survival comes first, and they will abort fawns. Thus, a year’s fawn crop can potentially be reduced in addition to the clear mortality brought on by weather.

So, How Long Do Deer Live, On Average, in the Wild?

Looking into harvest numbers helps one to understand the life expectancy of wild deer since hunting is far away the most important mortality factor for deer. For instance, hunters in Wisconsin project 158,236 bucks in 2020.

About forty percent of those dollars were 1- ½ years old, or bearing their first set of obvious antlers. Thus, it’s reasonable to assume that your chances of reaching 2-1/2 years old are poor if you are a yearling buck on the Wisconsin gun opener.

In many southern states, on the other hand, living to that age is a relative stroll for money. Less than ten percent of hunters tagged yearling bucks in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. And in Louisiana, the figure also held true for deer 2-½-years-of-age.

Actually, southern hunters target their harvest on mature bucks (deer 3-½ years old or older) in such a disciplined manner that, in an 11-state area in 2020, these bucks made up an average of 60 percent of the buck harvest. Does usually have a higher chance of surviving numerous seasons. While 50% of the doe animals in Alabama were 3-½ years old or older, 70% of hunters there were successful in their shots.

Ultimately, a wild doe should expect to make at least 3 to 6 years, and some may live much longer barring accident, predators, or disease. Regarding money, well, that depends on their residence and hunting style. In many, many fields, a 3-½-year-old buck is a senior citizen.

Antlered deer may pass in some locations or under strict control, though, and make a few more seasons. Although I hear of 8-½ (and older) bucks being caught every fall, these animals are obviously the anomaly; for a buck to die of long age in the woods is like a lightning strike.

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