Aging a buck from his skull size | Field & Stream

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Aging a buck from his skull size

Uploaded on December 10, 2012

One of the bucks i shot this year was very big. 213lbs field dressed in the 3rd week of Nov. His rack was almost 20" wide but not heavy and his teeth are blackish. Although his broken up rack only measures 112" his skull is more than an inch wider between the bases of his horns than anything else I have up. Is there anything to the wide skull?

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from steve182 wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

I would guess this is a good means of aging a deer, but i'm not a biologist.

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from neuman23 wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

They usually judge by the tooth wear. Does it's last tooth still feel pointy? or does it seem like you can roll a BB in the tooth's wear facets?

As far as skull, I think deer are like people, some are bigger boned than others, although a 1 1/2 yr old will not be as big as a 3 1/2 because its not fully grown yet. But I think it would be hard to judge between a 3 1/2 and a 5 1/2, based on skull alone. I could be wrong though.

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from Mike beck wrote 18 weeks 1 day ago

I agree acouple yr ago I shot a 190lb buck that did have not lost his third tooth. the first three teeth on the lower jar are baby teeth and lose them about 1 1/2 yr old third tooth IS A THREE POINTED TOOTH AND REPLACED WITH A TWO POINTED TOOTH BETWEEN TWO AND TWO AND HALF Yrs old so go to HUNTING PA.COM and Aging Deer by Tooth wear

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from Andrew Sandstrom wrote 15 weeks 2 days ago

i meet a guy from whitetails unlimited and i was told the grooves in the teeth are the easiest way to age a deer. my uncle shot a mule deer and the man told us that the deer wasnt going to make it through winter and it was 10-11 years old and the teeth were grinded down to almost nothing

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from steve182 wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

I would guess this is a good means of aging a deer, but i'm not a biologist.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from neuman23 wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

They usually judge by the tooth wear. Does it's last tooth still feel pointy? or does it seem like you can roll a BB in the tooth's wear facets?

As far as skull, I think deer are like people, some are bigger boned than others, although a 1 1/2 yr old will not be as big as a 3 1/2 because its not fully grown yet. But I think it would be hard to judge between a 3 1/2 and a 5 1/2, based on skull alone. I could be wrong though.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Mike beck wrote 18 weeks 1 day ago

I agree acouple yr ago I shot a 190lb buck that did have not lost his third tooth. the first three teeth on the lower jar are baby teeth and lose them about 1 1/2 yr old third tooth IS A THREE POINTED TOOTH AND REPLACED WITH A TWO POINTED TOOTH BETWEEN TWO AND TWO AND HALF Yrs old so go to HUNTING PA.COM and Aging Deer by Tooth wear

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Andrew Sandstrom wrote 15 weeks 2 days ago

i meet a guy from whitetails unlimited and i was told the grooves in the teeth are the easiest way to age a deer. my uncle shot a mule deer and the man told us that the deer wasnt going to make it through winter and it was 10-11 years old and the teeth were grinded down to almost nothing

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