MuleyMadness Hunting Forums

My Dad just found out the age of his bull from the DWR. Came in a 7years old. Pretty cool. Do you think this was his peak or on the way down.

I'd say he was just about right, could have been a little bigger for a year or two maybe. Don't think he was on his way down though.

Nice picture!

Nice bull.
What Unit if you dont mind me askin.

If I was to bet, Id say he was was at his peak, on his way down.

wasatch unit early rifle tag.
here are the links and story to the bull with more photos.
http://www.muleymadness.com/forum/viewt ... highlight=
http://www.muleymadness.com/forum/viewt ... highlight=[/url]

Nice bull!Id say he was past his prime,around here they seem to peek around 5 and then they get shorter tines and sometimes dont grow the 6th point on the back.

I think 6-8 is close to when they peak. I believe that is the age and the goal for most of Utah's LE units. In Colorado we rarely see a bull that's over 3 years old.

I don't believe they reach their "peak" until somewhere between 7 & 9 years old. The new state record bull had to be over 10 or 11 and I think he actually started to regress this year.
I believe elk "peak" out in different areas at different ages based on the stress and hardships they encounter throughout their life. Different climates, rainfall, types of feed available, genetics, all can make a difference in an animals "peak". Kind of like humans..I've seen some that have reached their peak in the 30's and some of them that look over the hill at 20 and 300 lbs... Some people who take care of their bodies, eat right, excercise, and live right look like they could be peaking in their 40's.... So I believe it is hard to pin point an age that you can call a "peak" on all animals..
Did that sound dumb????

Did that sound dumb????

Nope! Actually sounded good!

Thanks!
One of my personal experiences with this was my own archery bull from the Monroe, and my daughters bull from the Fishlake. I was amazed at the size of the bull I shot, a 6x7, which scored just over 350. The tooth data was returned with the age shown at 10+. My daughter's bull, from the Fishlake, but whose sheds had been found previously on the Monroe, also had a huge body, maybe even larger that my bull. It was an 7X8 and scored at 383+. I figured that bull to be as old or maybe older than mine based on size and body and antlers. I was surprised as could be when she got her data back showing 7 years old. That makes me wonder what potential that bull may have had with another couple of years to grow. Another monster bull I seen harested, and figured was pushing 10 came back at 9 years old. And on the other end of the spectrum, I've see some average sized 300 inch bulls that have come back over 8 or 9... Anyway, just my 2 cents!

my buddies 360 bull was over 10 and im sure he was regressing had such little mass i dont see it ever being any less and being able to support that frame it had im sure he peaked several years before he was killed