bear age
Contributors to this thread:Wisconsin
From: alderrub
18-Dec-14
Just got the age from last year's bear back from the dnr. According to them he was only 1 year old. Hard to believe since he was over 300lbs. Any thoughts?
From: Redclub
18-Dec-14
He ate Goood
From: Zebrakiller
18-Dec-14
no way, they dont grow that fast half that time it was in a den
From: Drop Tine
20-Dec-14
I got my card in the mail Friday. They said it was 6 years old.
From: Huntcell
21-Dec-14
Got my first one back in 94 they said was 24.5 I said wow. What's oldest? he said oldest he knew was 29.5 He was chewy
From: Jim Leahy
22-Dec-14
Here is a 5 year old bera! Scott took this bear with a bow hunting with me in 2013 it was 250# 5 years old according to his card he got on Friday. My hunters have had bear aged up to 22 years old- most are 2-5 years old. The aging is accurate- if the registration is done right and mailed in the correct envelopes with the right tooth!!! but that gets messed up! 300# you looking at a 4 plus years. There is no way it was 1 year old- tooth was mixed up with someone elses for sure.
From: Naz
22-Dec-14
Naz 's Link
Agree with Jim, must have been a typo or mix-up. Bear aging is pretty cut and dried (see link with photo of cross-section of tooth).
From: Polk CO. Hunter
23-Dec-14
I also got my age of my bear back at three years old he dressed at 275# seven foot aged at 3 I also shot a smaller bear with an ag tag last year dressed 165# they aged that one at 4 years according to the card they sent it says if the bear was harvested in September it would be at least seven months older than the card states. Funny I also got my rug back the next day.
From: Drop Tine
23-Dec-14
Sense were positing photos here's the one I got the age back from.
From: g5smoke21
24-Dec-14
I shot a 350 lb boar 4 years ago and they told me 3 yrs old...i dont know if they know exactly what they are doing lol
From: Steve White
24-Dec-14
I really need to look into how they do this more. From what I understand a cross section is looked at under the microscope. Then the rings are counted to determine age. With that said. How the heck can they be so far off!! The 600 pounder my buddy shot was said to be 3 yrs old. We all know darn well that is not possible. Would have been a short pudge ball barely able to walk. Even then doubt it would way that much!
Think I'm going to start pulling the opposite side tooth, and do my own aging. Just need to get a saw to cut the tooth in half.
Really it's not rocket science. Just need to be able to count the rings!! With many of the scopes today. The image can be displayed on a large screen. How hard can it be. Maybe the DNR can contract the local kindergarten class to do the counting for them. Bet it would be more accurate!
From: therealdeal
24-Dec-14
must be done by the same people that do the tetracycline study(cough, cough, farce, joke)
From: Steve White
24-Dec-14
Hey, I was part of the last study!!! DID YOU HELP?!??
Either way that is a bit different. Anyone could have busted a rib bone to see the coloring. Not much needed for that!
From: therealdeal
24-Dec-14
Steve, checking the bone for a stain wasn't the problem, it was how they manipulated the data after that.
From: Steve White
25-Dec-14
Never have seen anything on how exactly they use the data collected. Will have to try to see if I can find anything out on the process. Might be interesting stuff to look at??
From: alderrub
26-Dec-14
Just received a letter saying there was an error and my bear was actually 12 years old
From: Jim Leahy
29-Dec-14
The hunter who told me his bear was 5.5 years old that is pictured above, just got a postcard- stating they made a mistake on aging and it was 7.5 years- maybe its NOT as cut and dry to age afterall- not sure what the mix up was. My son also got a second card in the mail stating his was aged wrong by a year. At least the DNR is fessing up to mistakes!
From: Huntcell
29-Dec-14
they just messing with ya, see if you all is paying attention
all is good once again in Paradise!
From: Polk CO. Hunter
30-Dec-14
I also got two letters over the holiday now saying both my bears were 1 year old v.s. 3 and 4 years old. sounds like someone at the DNR could use refresher coarse in aging bear. If they cant count rings in teeth can they really estimate deer, bear or wolf population?
From: Naz
30-Dec-14
Maybe it was one big mixup in a computer file or something?