infoman jr.
Well-Known Member
Can someone who can read these things give me an idea on age?
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Help Support TNDeer:
Jawbone experts requested
- Thread starter infoman jr.
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
3.5
TN Larry
Well-Known Member
Agreed, 3.5.
infoman jr.
Well-Known Member
Bummer. He'll be a dandy this fall.
WTNBowHunter
Well-Known Member
Probably a 3 yr old jawbone. For discussion purposes, I feel that jawbone age is an educated guess but not exact, at least not for the untrained eye. I feel that this falls under the 'it depends' category with regards to tooth wear. It depends on soil makeup (ex: sandy/loamy/clay) and what types of food the deer has available in its range. It's second hand information but this idea around jawbone exam came from the professor who was at MS State prior to Dr. Strickland and Demarais. Cant recall his name right now but it was around the absolute of a deer's age strictly based off wear of the tooth. Hopefully someone else can expound on this in greater detail, or maybe they wont, but that's my $0.02.
WTNBowHunter
Well-Known Member
Interesting to see what a 2.5, 4.5, 5.5, etc looks like from this same location
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Agree... sortof...
Jawbone age is jawbone age. The age based on jawbone wear is what it is (assuming there aren't anomalies causing excessive tooth wear on certain molars... which happens a LOT)
What I think you are saying is that jawbone age does not perfectly correlate with actual age... and I agree completely.
I use it as piece of the puzzle, and have actually found live weight to better correlate with actual age in my herd (not perfect either).
On my farms, a jawbone exactly like that on a 200lb deer is probably 4.5.
Conversely, a jawbone like that on a 175lb deer is most likely 3.5.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
Last but not least, jawbone age guessing can be more accurate if you can both see & feel it, i.e. have it in your hand. And have both sides, not just one.
This can be very accurately correlated to actual ages in specific areas, much like Mississippi is doing by adding weight. Some deer chew more on one side, and you often have one side looking 3 1/2, the other side looking 2 1/2.
My best guess on the one above is also 3 1/2.
This can be very accurately correlated to actual ages in specific areas, much like Mississippi is doing by adding weight. Some deer chew more on one side, and you often have one side looking 3 1/2, the other side looking 2 1/2.
My best guess on the one above is also 3 1/2.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Agree with all of the above, both in age estimate and the problems with the Severinghaus Tooth-wear aging method.
From very good research out of TX on known-age free-roaming deer (deer were captured and ear-tagged as fawns, so exact age was known). the researchers found tooth-wear gives a very good minimum age. In essence, the deer is not younger than tooth-wear indicates. However, the older the deer actually is the more likely tooth-wear under-ages the deer. For deer with tooth-wear indicating 3 1/2, around 50% of deer are actually 4 1/2. By tooth-wear age of 4 1/2, 75% are actually 5 1/2. By tooth-wear age of 5 1/2, 100% are wrong and half are 6 1/2 and the other half are 7 1/2.
From very good research out of TX on known-age free-roaming deer (deer were captured and ear-tagged as fawns, so exact age was known). the researchers found tooth-wear gives a very good minimum age. In essence, the deer is not younger than tooth-wear indicates. However, the older the deer actually is the more likely tooth-wear under-ages the deer. For deer with tooth-wear indicating 3 1/2, around 50% of deer are actually 4 1/2. By tooth-wear age of 4 1/2, 75% are actually 5 1/2. By tooth-wear age of 5 1/2, 100% are wrong and half are 6 1/2 and the other half are 7 1/2.
