How Old IS THIS BUCK

[Diago]

Besides taking a tooth sample is there some reliable way to judge the age of a buck?

[Cooter]

Tooth wear - you can go online and compare the wear on your deer to pics of common wear at various ages.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Besides taking a tooth sample is there some reliable way to judge the age of a buck?

Depends on how close you are wanting to age an animal. If you are only trying to judge if a mature animal of approximately 4.5 years of age or more, yes, there are some fairly reliable means of judging age. Antler size (primarily at young ages) and body structure and physical traits can help you differentiate between younger deer and mature deer. The best way to identify the different stages would be to compare pictures. However, in general, young deer are still growing structurally and will be smaller, 2.5-3.5 year old deer will be structurally established (bones) but still putting on muscle (having a race horse build), 4.5+ will begin putting on bulk, looking swayed, barrel chested from front to back (no longer race horse build), and more blocky faced. Very old deer will begin to regress, but they often won't live that long in the wild and its a "know it when you see it" trait.

If you want definitive age, no, there is not a sure way of telling a 4.5 year old from a 5.5 year old other than killing the deer or following it through scouting or on trail camera from year to year.

[deets22]

tooth wear is very reliable and easy to learn. the down side is you have to kill them to find out

[Musky Buck]

I used to mail mine to Madelia Minnesota, not sure where but they would send me a nice letter and aged them for me. A DNR in New York Mills that aged deer at the gas station registration area there gave me the steer years ago, not sure if they still do as it's been awhile now.

[B. Amish]

using the tooth wear method is only a guess. it's been tested on pen raised deer and found to be inaccurate a good percentage of the time.

[MrCrappie]

There is no other reliable way to judge a bucks age.

[bassNspear]

good information guys!

[B. Amish]

There is no other reliable way to judge a bucks age.

yes there is. it's called cementum annuli aging. you take the bottom front teeth and send them to a lab where they slice them open and can count rings to determine age. if you really want to know a deer's age, that's your best bet.