Aging: From the DEC

[Steve D]

How Old is that Deer?

As deer season approaches, hunters are scouting the deer they will be hunting this fall. Estimating their age is important for making informed harvest decisions.

For antlerless deer, the primary question is whether you are observing a fawn or adult. While yearling (1.5-year-old) bucks are relatively easy to identify, estimating the age of older bucks can be more difficult. To learn how, see DEC’s Guide to Aging White-tailed Deer in New York.

Allowing yearling bucks to survive an extra year may enhance your deer hunting experience, especially if your hunting partners and neighbors are also passing on yearling bucks. With more older bucks around, hunters tend to observe more scrapes, rubs, sparring, and chasing, and they have a greater chance to bring home deer with more meat and larger antlers.

[WNY Bowhunter]

The DEC techs that check teeth at the butchershops are an utter JOKE!!!

[Steve D]

Sorry to offend you.