wingchaser_labs

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about aging there is. Teeth are adecent and CLOSE indicator but arent always true. Deer like humans all have different bone densities for teeth and eating habits. A deer that has soft or hard teeth densities and is eating in the timber browsing, eating alot of acorns, are gonna wear differently than a buck that lives on more plains and eats more grasses, small grains like wheat and oats, and alfalfas and are gonna wear differently than a deer living on heavy farm lands eating corn, beans, and alfalfas, and are gonna wear differently than a deer eating from alot of food plots and such. To some what sum it up deer 2 1/2 years and less are relativly easy to age by teeth but are easier to do just by knowing deer in general. Now when you get to that 3 1/2-death age category it gets very tough both ways with teeth and by horns. You can usually get within a year of the real age but getting the age exact isnt really possible with better than a 50/50 chance due to nutrient availability, doe:buck ratio, winters, and much more variable from year to year that can flux growth of horns.... The only true way to be 100% positive of a deer's age is to have pics, see them and ID them,and/or sheds, from every year that buck is alive from age 1/2 or 2 1/2 because those ages are easily identifiable in most cases. WCL