Deer age estimate

[shanew1668]

Shot this buck in early November in MA. The guy that did the euro estimated him around 8.5 years old and I was not expecting him to be that old because he didn’t have a huge body (170 lbs) and it’s too late to get him aged because the lower jaw is gone. He has a wide spindly rack and teeth were very worn down and jaw was crooked. I hadn’t even considered his age until the euro guy mentioned it so now I’m curious. I know it’s just a guess at this point but can anyone confirm?

 

[Antares]

If you have the lower jaw, post a pic of that.

 

[MuleyFever]

If his jaw was messed up it could cause a lot of premature wear.

 

[shanew1668]

I do not have lower jaw unfortunately. Only pic of the top teeth

 

[shanew1668]

If his jaw was messed up it could cause a lot of premature wear.

had the same thought, wasnt sure if a crooked jaw could happen with age?

 

[K9kodi]

Can’t you pull a tooth and send it off to get it aged

 

[shanew1668]

Can’t you pull a tooth and send it off to get it aged

Apparently they need the incisors from the lower jaw, not molars and I only have molars from top jaw which I was told would not be as accurate especially after being boiled for euro mount.

 

[Chris in TN]

Can’t you pull a tooth and send it off to get it aged

Yes and with an animal that anyone even halfway suspects of being that old, it's really the best way.

You can make estimates with some reasonable degree of certainty up to maybe 4.5 years old, and it goes downhill fast after that. And no method is perfect.

 

[Chris in TN]

Apparently they need the incisors from the lower jaw, not molars and I only have molars from top jaw which I was told would not be as accurate especially after being boiled for euro mount.

Preparing Your Specimens: How to Age Deer Teeth and More! - Matson's Laboratory

How to age deer teeth at Matson’s Lab: Simple instructions on how to identify, extract, and prepare deer teeth to be aged.

matsonslab.com

^^They say right on their website that they can age 'any tooth'. I'm sure there's limits to that, but it doesn't have to be a lower jaw tooth.

 

[shanew1668]

I was on a different website with the other one but I will try that one