Contributors to this thread:
I know there are services you can send teeth into, but most of what I've read leads me to believe they aren't very accurate. I haven't done it, so I probably shouldn't judge.
That said, I was curious as to the age of Easton's first buck. I had never seen that buck on the hoof, and had only gotten him on camera once early and still in velvet.
He's got a lot of character, and dark horned...made me think he was older, not to mention his mass. Part of me, however, wondered if he wasn't just a younger deer with great genetics?
So here's a pic of Easton with him, just him, and then his right jawbone. I have a fairly "educated" guess on his age but am interested in your thoughts...
4+ year old mature deer.
I see 6 teeth. Yearlings typically only have 5. Majority of the white enamel of the “crest” (outer outline edge of teeth) are worn down, flatter and smoother. No longer sharp or peaked (like a yearling would have). Also, the dark brown color of the “dentine” is much more exposed because the outer white enamel “crest” layer have been worn away due to age.
That shows how camera angle can affect the size of the deer in pictures. I had to do a double take, didn’t think it was the same deer.
Way bigger than my first buck
They say you concentrate on the inside of the teeth. On tooth 4 the dentine strip is wider than enamel so he should be at least 3. To be 4 they claim the dentine strip needs to be twice or least bigger than enamel on the 5th tooth which on this one it doesn’t look to be. Also these teeth look to have mountain tops on the inside and not worn down. By the diagram they go by or how I read it this one shows to be 3. Definitely not an expert though on teeth and just recently started paying more attention to it.
The mountain peaks however look to be worn some on tooth 4 so who knows.
Hmmmm, I’ve usually heard sending them off, to get a cross-section cut, and counted was most accurate.
Three does we took last week in EK county looked like triplets, but biologists taking samples found one doe with hardly any teeth, as in ancient.
One doe had teeth the size of a bull elk and the other had an extra molar coming out of the side of her jaw.
Can we get a biologist to step in here?
Here's the study I read Mike(link), but again I haven't used any of those services.
I'm focusing on the M1, and to me it looks like a 5+yr old buck...but open to interpretation.
QDMA, looks over 6 for sure.
Yeah that tooth shows some wear but what is a little confusing is that he shows to have a lot of enamel left on the M2 and M3 and the dentine line is thin. They say to take it in steps first on that but maybe this deer skipped those steps....maybe he chewed his food different:)
Buddy of mine does European mounts... boiled one out this year that had fangs. Really cool.
