For the jawbone gurus..

[wooly]

Figure a lot of you guys spend more time at this than I care to.

Wondering what kind of estimates you all might have to this deers age. I think these pics should be adequate, but I can take different shot angles if necessary. I'm sure I could do a little research and come up with my own guess, but sometimes it's nice to hear some of the criteria others use before forming my own opinion.

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the right side also.

 

 

 

 

[WNYBuckHunter]

Can you get one more straight down on the teeth please?

[wooly]

Yup- hope this one shows what you need to see. If not I'll take a better one tomorrow.

 

[mbucks27]

At least 5.5 years old

John

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yep, 5.5 or older.

[phade]

It is highly unlikely that that deer is 5.5 or older. In fact, I'm so convinced I'd be willing to make a major wager on it.

 

There are very clear signs this deer is 4.5 or maybe even 3.5. The dentine wear is classic 4.5 though. The fifth cheek tooth has wider dentine than enamel. The real proof that this is not a 5.5 or older imo is the fifth and sixth cheek teeth together on each side. They are blunted but still yet show some sharpness - generally speaking a 5.5 will not have "sharpness" of any kind on those teeth. The point of debate for me is not 4.5 or 5.5 and older...but actually 3.5 or 4.5 as the prior teeth are still pointed to a degree.

 

I'd say 90% 4.5 and maybe 10% 3.5 odds.

 

The other thing, too, are wild herd odds. Roughly about 2% of bucks are in the 5.5 or older age brackets. 3.5 and 4.5 are statisically much more common.

 

This is also a good example of why this type of estimating can be difficult...the forward teeth on each side are worn at a different pace - you can tell he favored chewing on one side over the other. As time goes on, this exasperates the differences.

Edited April 10, 2013 by phade

[WNYBuckHunter]

I based mine on two things, the dentine and enamel of the last tooth and the cupping of the teeth forward of that one. Im still learning this stuff, so I could be wrong. I didnt take the pointedness into account I guess. Based on what phade pointed out, Id like to change mine to 4.5

[phade]

I based mine on two things, the dentine and enamel of the last tooth and the cupping of the teeth forward of that one. Im still learning this stuff, so I could be wrong. I didnt take the pointedness into account I guess. Based on what phade pointed out, Id like to change mine to 4.5

Nothing wrong with that...at that age difference, you're splitting hairs. IMO, if you can tell a 2.5 and under apart from a 3.5 and up...then you've mastered the general usefulness of the estimating process.

[WNY Bowhunter]

I'd say 3.5 or possibly 4.5.  Aging deer by the teeth has way too many varibles to be hightly accurate.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yeah, Ive heard that it starts getting tough to determine age this way after around 4.5 anyway. I do appreciate the pointers though, Im always up for learning new stuff!

[Water Rat]

The most accurate way to determine a deer's age would be to cut a thin slice of the incisor tooth root , stained and viewed under magnification . This would allow you to count the "annual rings" much like counting the rings of a tree stump.

[wooly]

I was guessing this deer at 4 1/2 based on antler characteristics alone compared to other known bucks in the area.

I know that's a highly innacurate method from one property to the next, but it seems for the typical age structure of bucks us average folks hunt, you can get pretty darn close that way most of the time. Dare I say.., almost as close as using the jawbone method with a little knowledge of the quality of different age class bucks roaming your woods.

 

I guess that's why I posted this. It doesn't hurt to have a secondary method to back up or confirm your initial beliefs. Now that my interest has been peaked in a new method, a little practice over time, and experience through repetition, might make this a preferred technique with a slightly more accurate degree of of certainty to rule out the unlikely age of borderline bucks.

Anyhow, this is the buck the jawbone came from. Thanks for the pointers all!

 

 

[phade]

I feel like I aced a test or something.

[mbucks27]

I still say 5.5 years old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! J/K i guess i was off by a year.  

 

John

[nyantler]

It is highly unlikely that that deer is 5.5 or older. In fact, I'm so convinced I'd be willing to make a major wager on it.

 

There are very clear signs this deer is 4.5 or maybe even 3.5. The dentine wear is classic 4.5 though. The fifth cheek tooth has wider dentine than enamel. The real proof that this is not a 5.5 or older imo is the fifth and sixth cheek teeth together on each side. They are blunted but still yet show some sharpness - generally speaking a 5.5 will not have "sharpness" of any kind on those teeth. The point of debate for me is not 4.5 or 5.5 and older...but actually 3.5 or 4.5 as the prior teeth are still pointed to a degree.

 

I'd say 90% 4.5 and maybe 10% 3.5 odds.

 

The other thing, too, are wild herd odds. Roughly about 2% of bucks are in the 5.5 or older age brackets. 3.5 and 4.5 are statisically much more common.

 

This is also a good example of why this type of estimating can be difficult...the forward teeth on each side are worn at a different pace - you can tell he favored chewing on one side over the other. As time goes on, this exasperates the differences.

I think you are right on the money... fourth cheek tooth isn't showing the wear of a 5.5 .. but enough wear for 4.5