Age that deer game

[bullet]

Yes, dubyam has done a good job in my opinion of aging the deer. Also, to there are to many 2.5 yr old bucks being killed in many places and this will keep us from having maturer bucks with nice racks. We all have killed our share of young bucks but in doing so we must realize that we will not have as many mature good racked bucks to shoot. I took a young buck from a place this year for meat but now wish I had taken the doe that came out 10 minutes after him. I will let the young ones go this year and just try and settle for the older ones with much nicer and more mature racks.

 

[Guest]

I'm with Bullet, besides the Doe taste better IMO.

Don

 

[ROVERT]

I'm at 2.5 for Pat's and 3.5 for mine.

Here is the deer that goes with the last jaw I posted:

I can see how the jaw could be read as a 2.5 yr old but I can't put that face and body on one... good dental care? In person, this jaw definitely shows more wear than the 2.5 yr old buck I posted earlier. Not a lot, but certainly more.

 

[bullet]

It is still a young deer

 

[ROVERT]

Here are side by side close ups of the teeth of the above buck and the 2.5 year old buck posted earlier. From front to back.

1st premolar:

2nd premolar:

3rd premolar:

1st molar:

2nd molar:

3rd molar:

 

[bullet]

Here is a 2.5 year old 8 point buck

 

[Guest]

Trevor, if he's 3.5, he was the last deer born that season. I suspect he's just worn his teeth more. Too little dentine visible in that first molar, in my opinion. And notice that his posterior cusp on the third molar is still fairly pointed, and not showing much in the way of concave. Only real way to tell if you or I are right is to section the tooth and count the annular rings, which is beyond my capability and likely beyond yours, too. I don't have a microscope to use! Either way, this is still fun.

 

[ROVERT]

No, I don't have a microscope currently at my disposal. I've aged more fish scales by pressing slides and viewing through a microscope than I care to remember. I don't think I'll be investing in a scope to do a similar thing with deer. I imagine you need a way to thinly slice the tooth as well.

I've seen a good number of 2.5 year old bucks taken. This deer had obviously more muscle mass than any of those. Who knows? I'll continue to try to get more opinions. Maybe I'll send the incisors to a lab some day.

Thanks for playing the game, guys. I'll try to get another jaw posted up this evening.