Please help me age this deer

[WildRose]

2.5 and he'll be a champion in 3 more years. Texas deer are tough to age IMO

The only reliable way I've found of doing so in the field is with much older bucks looking at the sag, sway, and loose skin in the eyes and jowls. If they make it to 7.5 there is a rapid decline to the end as their teeth wear down to nubs and they end up potbellied yet with lots of loose skin and their ribs showing more each year.

Even at that these are estimates and you really don't know for sure till you get them on the ground and look at their teeth.

 

[SEGARE]

...and looking at teeth is a bit of a guessing game as well. Diet (plants that have taken up lots of silica will cause faster wear- deer from sandy habitats tend to show more wear) and genetics are a factor in how fast teeth appear to wear. Cross-sectioning a tooth and counting the Cementum rings is the most accurate way to age a deer, and it's not 100%.

 

[WildRose]

...and looking at teeth is a bit of a guessing game as well. Diet (plants that have taken up lots of silica will cause faster wear- deer from sandy habitats tend to show more wear) and genetics are a factor in how fast teeth appear to wear. Cross-sectioning a tooth and counting the Cementum rings is the most accurate way to age a deer, and it's not 100%.

I tried pointing that out to a few biologists during my wildlife bio classes. They all swore that the data was pretty solid on it.

As much sand and dirt and hard stemmed grasses and browse as desert deer eat in particular, I seriously doubt it.

 

[VLD Pilot]

The only reliable way I've found of doing so in the field is with much older bucks looking at the sag, sway, and loose skin in the eyes and jowls. If they make it to 7.5 there is a rapid decline to the end as their teeth wear down to nubs and they end up potbellied yet with lots of loose skin and their ribs showing more each year.

Even at that these are estimates and you really don't know for sure till you get them on the ground and look at their teeth.

That's what I mean. Coming from a state where we are very lucky to see a 4 year old deer, I don't think I could age a deer in Texas accurately. I'm pretty good at it here based on the same body language.

 

[Short Case]

That's what I mean. Coming from a state where we are very lucky to see a 4 year old deer, I don't think I could age a deer in Texas accurately. I'm pretty good at it here based on the same body language.

I live in Missouri, for year around here if it had antler they would shoot it. Now in Missouri it must have 4 points on one side. We
are now starting to get some nice big bucks. My way of thinking is if you would spend $600.00 to have him mounted then shoot him
other wise shoot a young doe, better eating.

 

[SEGARE]

.

My way of thinking is if you would spend $600.00 to have him mounted then shoot him..

This is pretty much the way I operate on my 300 acres. Anything under a 130" definitely gets a pass. I do have a few guests that From time to time period if it is a young kid, then they pretty much get to shoot whatever they want. I am fortunate that we have about 1800 acres under the control of 3 or 4 landowners. Most everybody that hunts along this creek operate in a similar manner.

 

[WildRose]

That's what I mean. Coming from a state where we are very lucky to see a 4 year old deer, I don't think I could age a deer in Texas accurately. I'm pretty good at it here based on the same body language.

When you watch enough of them grow up it gets easier.

 

[VLD Pilot]

When you watch enough of them grow up it gets easier.

I ya that's true but watching them grow up where I live and Texas are really different when looking at equal aged deer. Northern and Southern deer are entirely different animals. Never thought they be so much different to age

 

[WildRose]

I ya that's true but watching them grow up where I live and Texas are really different when looking at equal aged deer. Northern and Southern deer are entirely different animals. Never thought they be so much different to age

Indeed. Local knowledge is not overrated. When I first started looking at the deer around SW Texas my first thought was, "When do they grow up"?

 

[SEGARE]

Body-wise, the deer in most of Georgia are similar to Texas. The mountains and some of SWGA are the polar ends.

 

[WildRose]

Body-wise, the deer in most of Georgia are similar to Texas. The mountains and some of SWGA are the polar ends.

SW Texas would be the exception for sure as well as a lot of the Hill Country. I'd gotten so used to the size of deer in the North Central, West, and Panhandle regions it really shocked me when we bought the place near Big Bend and I was reminded of how much smaller they are that what I'd grown used to.

I hadn't hunted SW of the Stephenville/Dublin area for 40 years going back to the early seventies.

It reminded me of why we used to call them, "Little Goat Deer".

With all the ranches bringing in Norther Genetics over the last 20 years I thought enough would have leaked into the wild populations to increase their size substantially but boy, they sure haven't done so down here yet.

 

[Lee7588]

2.5-3.5 I would say he is closer to 2.5. for the most part deer mature at 5 yrs so yes he will get bigger. Some lucky buck minerals will help