For those of you good at aging jaw bones

[Whit90]

What age do you estimate this deer is base off of tooth ware? I think it’s for sure a 3 year old, but I am leaning towards 4 years old. What are y’all’s thoughts.

 

[Whit90]

@C.Killmaster mind taking a stab?

 

[antharper]

I sure wish I knew . Even studied it quite a bit . I’d say that one is older than 3 but that’s just a guess .

 

[Yelpu1]

I believe he was at least 4 years old.

 

[C.Killmaster]

4.5

 

[Whit90]

4.5

Thanks. Thats what I was leaning towards, but I wasn’t 100% confident with that 5th tooth.

 

[C.Killmaster]

Thanks. Thats what I was leaning towards, but I wasn’t 100% confident with that 5th tooth.

There was a pretty comprehensive study that had a bunch of biologists age a set of known-age jawbones. The tendency was to under-age them, so I tend to err on the higher side if it's splitting the line between 2 years. That deer you killed looked pretty solid at 4.5 by wear though.

 

[Whit90]

There was a pretty comprehensive study that had a bunch of biologists age a set of known-age jawbones. The tendency was to under-age them, so I tend to err on the higher side if it's splitting the line between 2 years. That deer you killed looked pretty solid by wear though.

I gottcha. Thanks for the info!