• Help Support TNDeer:

Got the age results on the 8 point

DoubleRidge said:
My understanding of CA analysis is the tooth is cross sectioned, polished, dye is applied then magnified to read the results....I know they prefer one of the front teeth....but can do it on any tooth.
Click to expand...
The front teeth are preferred because they're some of the first teeth to come in and they're never replaced (they are not "baby teeth" like the premolars are).
 
catman529 said:
I've hunted the area for several years and have noticed the deer are a little smaller and leaner on average, so I wasn't surprised when the teeth showed the buck to be older than I guessed. Actually the local genetics over there are noticeably different than the deer around here in Williamson county. I had two other good bucks on trail cam in that spot which were both just as lean, didn't look much older than 2 or 3, but knowing the area they also could have been older. When I shot my buck I thought he might be pushing 130" based on the spread and height of his rack. But the whole deer looked smaller when I finally found him. Ended up going 117" rough scored. He had smaller ears too which exaggerated the spread.
Click to expand...
In my area, bucks quite often have shorter faces (and actually, shorter skulls) than in other regions of TN. This fact is so well known, I've taken bucks to taxidermists, and the first thing they say when seeing the head is, "Oh, one of those Humphreys County bucks."
 
redblood said:
I was actually thinking the same thing. Everyone gonna add 4 yrs to every buck they see lol
Click to expand...
BSK said:
In my area, bucks quite often have shorter faces (and actually, shorter skulls) than in other regions of TN. This fact is so well known, I've taken bucks to taxidermists, and the first thing they say when seeing the head is, "Oh, one of those Humphreys County bucks."
Click to expand...
I've seen the same thing in western franklin county. Short nose deer. Also the buck I killed had a smaller skull than most, but in a different county.
 
catman529 said:
November 2020:

View attachment 122880

November 2021:

View attachment 122878
View attachment 122882
View attachment 122879
View attachment 122881
View attachment 122883

According to Wildlife Labs, cementum annuli aging is 85% accurate on whitetail. BSK said that a drought in the south could add a year to the growth rings. This deer lived around river bottoms with easy access to water, so I'm not sure how that affects the result. Either way, I think it's pretty cool.
Click to expand...
8.5 or 3.5, it's a great deer either way, congratulations catman.
 
Good buck for sure ! Congrats

Would the deers diet have anything too do with its tooth wear or lack there of?
Soy beans chew easier than corn, honey suckle & grass easier than acorns..

I think that deer living in close proximity to a good water & food source with heavy cover nearby and minimal hunting pressure could live several years..and are bigger bodied than deer living in areas with a less desirable environment.

I've always felt deer are much like humans, not all look the same or age the same.

The rut I feel plays heavily on a bucks body size & overall health as well…
 
Smo said:
Good buck for sure ! Congrats

Would the deers diet have anything too do with its tooth wear or lack there of?
Soy beans chew easier than corn, honey suckle & grass easier than acorns..

I think that deer living in close proximity to a good water & food source with heavy cover nearby and minimal hunting pressure could live several years..and are bigger bodied than deer living in areas with a less desirable environment.

I've always felt deer are much like humans, not all look the same or age the same.

The rut I feel plays heavily on a bucks body size & overall health as well…
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what his normal home range is since he only showed up during the rut. But from what I can tell there isn't any ag fields close by, mostly green browse like privet, blackberry, honeysuckle, etc. with a few small patches of oaks here and there.
 
BSK said:
Actually, I'm kind of that way about cementum annuli aging. I've seen the studies indicating it is the least accurate when compared to toothwear (which produces a very accurate minimum age) and field-judging age. Not to say cementum annuli isn't valuable - if I could I would have EVERY deer harvested on a given property cementum annuli aged, as well as toothwear aged and field-judged aged. Those three data streams would make for good consensus and as a teaching tool.

Unless you could capture every fawn and ear-tag them, we'll never really know exact ages of adult deer. None of the aging systems are perfect. In fact, not even close. When it comes to known-age deer (ear-tagged as fawns) I've seen toothwear be way off, field-judging way off, and cementum annuli be way off.
Click to expand...
This year we are sending all bucks killed teeth to have CA done. Just paying for the basic charge so it'll probably be 6 mos before we get them back. We are using it as a learning tool & will be interesting to see how the ages we estimated stack up to their results.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top