Deer age

[DROpTINE]

For those of you who go through the trouble of aging deer, how often do you find youself surprised by the results?

A buddy of mine shot a 6 yo doe (aged by dec) from long island few yrs ago that was under 100 lbs dressed. I would have never guessed that old.

Also my cousin shot a big 7 ptr last year in catskills that was 23 inches inside spread. And real massy. Deer only weighed in the 150s dressed. That one was aged at 8.5 by taxidermist. I was shocked body wasn't bigger.

And this year in same areea of catskills the buck I shot was an 8 ptr, without much mass. The face was all gray and old looking and it dressed out at 153. Looking at rack I would say 2.5 (maybe 3.5) but judging by the face and weight I would say possibly older. Strange.

for the LI doe, I have always found deer on Long Island to have typically smaller bodies than deer upstate. It's just what I've experienced my whole life. Bucks and does. So the 6.5 doesn't shock me too much. I bet she was a healthy deer

The 7pt sounds like a monster. I'd say aging a buck from the stand would be noticing mass. In my opinion mass = age. Sounds like he was bigger the year before. Maybe on his way down.

and for the 8pt. Sounds like a sweet spot in the Catskills with these big bucks your talking about. Need a partner? Lol

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[Lawdwaz]

For the most part, if you see a nice buck that has 4" plus bases in NY and you say he's a 4 year old, then you are going to be within a year of age 90% of the time. There aren't many bucks in NY that live past 5.

 

That is quite an interesting way to estimate the age of a deer.  Have you run that by QDMA or the DEC?

 

I'll stick with tooth wear guess-timation by me & the DEC until the alternative gets MUCH cheaper.

 

BTW, the 5.5 year old who's jaw is pictured above has bases 3 5/8's and 3 6/8's.

[sampotter]

"For those of you who go through the trouble of aging deer, how often do you find youself surprised by the results?

A buddy of mine shot a 6 yo doe (aged by dec) from long island few yrs ago that was under 100 lbs dressed. I would have never guessed that old.

Also my cousin shot a big 7 ptr last year in catskills that was 23 inches inside spread. And real massy. Deer only weighed in the 150s dressed. That one was aged at 8.5 by taxidermist. I was shocked body wasn't bigger.

And this year in same areea of catskills the buck I shot was an 8 ptr, without much mass. The face was all gray and old looking and it dressed out at 153. Looking at rack I would say 2.5 (maybe 3.5) but judging by the face and weight I would say possibly older. Strange."

 

 

 

Yes, I was surprised in 2007. I shot a 144" with my bow and a 129" 9 pt with the gun. Cementum annuli aged at 3 and 4, respectively. After further review it did make sense though. The 144" buck had bases that were maybe barely 4", a baby face (although grey), and a smallish body, while the other buck had 4.5" bases with thick, short tines, and a more muscular body. That was when I stopped looking at overall rack size and started to look more at the rest of the deer to estimate age.

 

 

           144" 3 year old                                                    129" 4 year old

[Lawdwaz]

8.5 is probably on his downturn.

 

Probably is an understatement.

 

8.5 is a dinosaur.

[Lawdwaz]

The rack has nothing to do with a bucks age after 2.5yrs.

[sampotter]

That is quite an interesting way to estimate the age of a deer.  Have you run that by QDMA or the DEC?

 

I'll stick with tooth wear guess-timation by me & the DEC until the alternative gets MUCH cheaper.

 

BTW, the 5.5 year old who's jaw is pictured above has bases 3 5/8's and 3 6/8's.

 

It's a simple process of elimination. Most bucks never live to see 5 years of age. If you can tell that he's at least 3 it is likely that you've narrowed it down to 3-5 years of age. If you guess 4 then you are within a year which is just as good as most biologists can do with tooth wear.

[sampotter]

The rack has nothing to do with a bucks age after 2.5yrs.

 

You don't think there is a general and noticeable increase in mass from 3 to 4 years of age?

[Lawdwaz]

5.5yr old.........(172lb)

 

 

3.5yr old.........(I forget)

 

 

3.5yr old.........(217lb)

 

 

Weight is dressed of course.  Age on these was all done by tooth wear via the DEC.

 

 

[Lawdwaz]

You don't think there is a general and noticeable increase in mass from 3 to 4 years of age?

 

You can't count on it.

 

Who did the aging on your two bucks?  Do you know if it can still be done after a year or so?  The buck I shot last fall was aged by the DEC and me at 3.5yrs old but I have my doubts on this one.  The width of the skull and the (yup!) mass of the big 6pt rack has me questioning it??  He dressed out at 182lbs.........

 

 

The buck on the right........

 

[sampotter]

You can't count on it.

 

Who did the aging on your two bucks?  Do you know if it can still be done after a year or so?  The buck I shot last fall was aged by the DEC and me at 3.5yrs old but I have my doubts on this one.  The width of the skull and the (yup!) mass of the big 6pt rack has me questioning it??  He dressed out at 182lbs.........

 

 

The buck on the right........

 

 

I've done 6 of them through deerage.com. $25 I believe. You need the 2 front incisors though. I would be really interested to see what cementum annuli would say about the 5.5 buck you showed. I look at his jaw picture and anyone can see his teeth are very worn- even more so than a buck I killed in the ADKS last year that was aged by CA to be a 5 year old. I then look at the kill pic of your same buck and without seeing other angles of his body I wouldn't dare call him more than 3? Maybe he was older than 5 and on the downward slide?

 

I've run a lot of skulls through the buckboiler over the past 3 years and one thing is very consistent: the nose bones on deer <4 years old always fall out and I have to glue them back in. Not so with the older deer.

 

[Lawdwaz]

I don't have the incisors, only molars.  It'd be $49.95 per deer.  I'll keep it in mind for future deer though.

 

http://www.deerage.com/services_provided.htm

[nyantler]

Tooth dissection can be done anytime as long as you keep the jawbone.. it is the only sure way to know the true age... tooth wear is very good but the type of food that the deer are eating can make a difference in the tooth wear possibly giving a less that accurate reading after 3.5 years

Edited December 17, 2013 by nyantler

[sampotter]

I don't have the incisors, only molars.  It'd be $49.95 per deer.  I'll keep it in mind for future deer though.

 

http://www.deerage.com/services_provided.htm

 

Huh- I never noticed they could use molars. Good to know.

[Five Seasons]

The rack has nothing to do with a bucks age after 2.5yrs.

Body size is interesting too though. The nice 8 in my avatar was late October and while the rack was large he only weighed in the 130's. Last year I shot a 1.5 year old 5 that tipped the scales at 152. Only a week earlier in bow and the same stand. Same crops etc.

I like to think that i got the best of both worlds with the 8 because I got the mount and the good meat. Haha

[Lawdwaz]

Body size is interesting too though. The nice 8 in my avatar was late October and while the rack was large he only weighed in the 130's. Last year I shot a 1.5 year old 5 that tipped the scales at 152. Only a week earlier in bow and the same stand. Same crops etc. I like to think that i got the best of both worlds with the 8 because I got the mount and the good meat. Haha

 

That is a heavy duty 1.5yr old................

 

Weight is very interesting to me.  To be honest, the 217lb 8pt I shot with the bow is as good a trophy or better to me as the 140" buck that went into the NYSBB Club.

[BUCKANDAQUARTER]

I think getting a 200 lb-er is on top of my list of goals as a whitetail hunter, above P&Y. Congrats Law on yours! Belo it's funny that you got a 5 pt at 152, I got one that weighed 151, but I really think he was a 2.5+ due to the weight and he had a good bases. My biggest was a real nice 8pt that I believe was 3.5 due to the same characteristics. The scale I weighed him on was on a hang pole but it wasn't high enough so his nose was still touching the ground slightly and it read 150. He was harvested on the last day of muzzleloader and had lost weight from running doe. This topic has really got me wondering on my guess-timations. I do have the jawbone from the 8, I'll have to take a look at it.

Edited December 17, 2013 by BUCKANDAQUARTER

[Five Seasons]

That is a heavy duty 1.5yr old................

 

 

for sure, but there was no doubt he was a very young deer. Moral of the story, neither rack nor body can be used to age a deer, but honestly for the most part I agree with Sam. You can get within a year in NYS 90% of the time.

[phade]

for sure, but there was no doubt he was a very young deer. Moral of the story, neither rack nor body can be used to age a deer, but honestly for the most part I agree with Sam. You can get within a year in NYS 90% of the time.

 

If you say every buck is 2.5 (given hunting season timeframe), you'd naturally be + or - one year of that 90%....I doubt the buck population of 4.5 and up is more than 10% of the statewide herd make-up. If it is, it ain't by much.