home-made deer aging guide
 

i was out scouting with a buddy of mine the other day and found the right lower jaw of a deer and picked it up and brought it home. my first thought was wow this must have been a yearling because all of the teeth were pretty sharp, but upon further research i found out they are actually from a 2 1/2 year old deer. i was surprised how off i was, and decided to start a collection of deer jaws to make my own guide to a deers age. it may take a few years, but it'll be a good management tool to have. as of now my collection consists of the 2 1/2 yr old set i have now, and possibly 1 or 2 i may be able to dig out of our dump up north. any of you guys use similar things? ik there are some really nice plaques w/ all the teeth available from whitetail institute and other places.

RE: home-made deer aging guide
 

Actually yes, I do. I save the jaws off of deer I kill, along with the ones that I find in the woods. (I have an uncanny knack for finding skulls in the woods[&:]). I take them home, clean and whiten them, drill a hole in them,then I have an old chain from a fan that I made into a loop where I hang them. I started this just a few years ago, but I have jaws from 6 months, up through 3.5 years. I take a permanent marker and write the age on the side for future reference. Now any deer I kill I can compare and see how old it was.

RE: home-made deer aging guide
 

Cool. I have some as well and sorta do the same thing.