Ok, I was reading in a Deer and Deer Hunting that aging deer is an imperfect science at best ...... so what's with all these shows "aging" the deer on the hoof, when the scientists aren't 100% sure when the age by the jaw (teeth) ? I see it on here as well .... I'm just wondering ..... am I missing something here?

Hi Tony, I don't think anybody can say 100% how old a deer is but take into account where he lives, food sources and nutrition and total herd health and you can get pretty good at it.

Here is a link that really helped me to "get to know" how old deer are on the hoof. It's off the tecomate website. Say what you want about their shows, but there is some good info on the site.

http://http://www.tecomate.com/resources/articles/age-and-aging.cfm

Also: some of the other management minutes are pretty cool to read.

I think after 3.5 it is a guesstimation at most! It's not that hard to age them on the hoof at 1.5, 2.5 up to 3.5 but after that, it's tough without tooth extractions.

I think aging becomes important if you are managing a deer herd or into quality deer management.A deer that is only 3 years old still has the potential for much more antler growth. A deer may be 6 and have a smaller rack. this is one you might want to remove from the gene pool. so you can see in some cases it is important to be able to age a deer on the hoof. where I hunt (in the north) it takes 4 years before they really start to put mass into their racks.

Very true. The only way that i can for sure know after 3.5 is if i have watched the buck grow up from 1.5 or 2.5...

Teeth are the biggest misconception out there for aging. They can be close but not always exact.Teeth in deer have different desities just like human teeth. Some people get cavities and gum disease easy while others have very good teeth that just don't go bad and both people take care of their teeth the same. With deer it depends where they are, what they eat, and genetics of their teeth. Teeth are a decent indicator but we all know you don't need teeth to age a deer under 3 1/2 years old and when they get olderthan 3 you can usuallly get within a year of theactual age but you can never be sure........... Only way to truely age a deer 100% is to watch it grow upby have pics of it every year or see it from the time its 2 1/2 or 3 1/2. WCL

Exactly.......

again, what he said, in the real world this is about as good as it gets, IMO.

Where I live , I don't think that a tooth chart works at all. I think tooth charts work some places, depending on where you live. Here where the main food source is corn, the teeth get worn right to the gum Quick. I tend to go more by body length, body posture, hoof developement, head shape, antler formation, and beleave it or not, Grey Hair. lol

So maybe these guys are doing just that ....... watching these same bucks sice they were 1.5 years old ....you all have seen what I am talking about tho ..... where they will say ..... here comes a nice 4 1/2 ...we'll let him grow ...etc .... or they will say, "Look at this 5 1/2 coming ...... maybe I'll just stop watching most of these shows ....