How do you age a deer on the hoof?

[hockeybc69]

I got curious today about ages and weights of deer and I was able to come up with the 2008 harvest report from Camp Ripley. They weigh and age every deer registered.

This should be a very good average gauge for what deer would or can weigh throughout a good part of the state. Take a peak.

Here is what the report had to say. Very interesting data to say the least.

Buck harvest info:

Doe harvest info. This one I found incredibly interesting. I have seen people posting about their dads cousins step brother shooting a doe that weighed 180 lbs and things like that. This is pretty revealing. :

[Steve Foss]

Considering it is NE MN I would say a 4.5 year old.

That was my first thought, too.

[archerystud]

hockeybc69,

I'm not surprised by that data. I don't think "younger" deer in Ripley weigh nearly as much as they do from the corn belt.

There is a reason farmers feed there animals corn and beans vs twigs and shrubs.

The only data I could find was from Missouri. Which shows how much weights could vary per region. A yearling buck in No Missouri avg 18 lbs more than one at Ripley. I would guess a corn belt deer would avg even more.

Here is the link if you are interested:

http://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/deer/life-history

Deer weights

Deer weights tend to vary by region within a state. In Missouri, on average deer are heavier and sport better racks in the northern half of the state. Latitude may play a role, but the range quality likely plays a greater role. Superior soils and abundant agriculture in northern Missouri offer better nutrition. The largest recorded deer taken in Missouri weighed 407 (live weight) pounds and was killed in 1979 in Davies County.

Average Dressed Carcass Weights (lbs)

Male

Region Fawns Yearlings Adults

Glaciated Plains 72.1 123.5 154.8

Osage Plains 54.0 93.9 128.2

Ozark Border 58.2 101.0 132.7

Ozarks 53.2 86.7 125.2

[leech~~]

I've heard the droop of the belly is a good indicator of an older buck.

mabr, I would stay off the Woman's forum for a while if I was you!

[hockeybc69]

AS,

A factor, yes. But as I said in my post with the data, its probably a decent guide to a good part of MN. Not a guide to use from border to border in every case.

But good data for our region as a reference for sure. Add some pounds for corn/bean/alfalfa fed deer if needed. But its hard to argue DNR data from smack dab in the middle of MN. We arent talking deer from the Boundary waters here. Theres some good natural mast(Oaks in particular) in areas of Ripley. So they arent being completely deprived of good food sources.