virginiashadow

I shot a doe maybe 5 years ago in December...a wildlife biologist happened to be at the game check station getting things for one of his college classes. He took the jawbone of the doe I shot and told me she was 7.5 years old...he said he was amazed given the gun pressure on the base I hunt. Was pretty cool.

Jim_IV

4 1/2..........I am progressively getting older. Next year, 5 1/2


BTW Jeff, how do you keep five threads going at the same time? You got skillz

Planter

This guy was jaw aged this year at 6.5 or possibly 7.5. The aging was done by a wildlife official at the check station and he said it get hard to be real accurate after 6.5 due to there being so little tooth left. The rest of him sure wasn't worn out.

TallTines6

I shot a buck that had worn down his teeth down to nothing. He was the longest deer I have ever seen yet not that heavy like you would suspect from an old worn down buck. I personally think he would not have made it through the winter. His teeth were that worn. He did surprisingly have a good 160" ten point rack on his head though which most deer this old are generally smaller.

Now with his teeth that worn I'm not sure how old he was but I would assume very old. I would guess 10 1/2 + but I believe unless i took the incisors out and got them analyzed that you really can't tell.

burniegoeasily

5.5 to 6 years old. Ugly old buck. Not much of a rack, but was an old guy.

farmcntry

Ditto! I'd almost swear that was a doe hide on that set of antlers!

huntingson

Unless you have the teeth scoped or the eye lenses dried and weighed, you have no idea beyond 3.5 years. You can tell by the jaw whether the deer is a fawn, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, or older. That is it. Beyond that it is a guess without the processes I mentioned earlier.

buckhunter14

I shot a 3 point, which is the oldest deer I have ever shot. This deer was going down progressively and shot him to take him out of the heard. his three point kind of looked like this out of his base \ |/ , literally. They we broken and nubbed and nothing left. He was very old and grey, took the name grey-face actually. The meat was probably the toughest and most nasty I have ever eaten. Never had him checked though.

GregH

There are other signs that you can go by that make it more than just a guess. I'd call it a highly educated guess for some. Personally, I look at the whole deer. The shape of the body and face, body weight, antler mass and characteristics, teeth wear and size and wear of the front hooves.It helps if you've seen the deer over a couple of seasons.

shed33

For now, 7.5 years old, aged by the local Fish and Game biologist. The buck I killed this year, is still pending. My taxi thinks he's between 8-10.