Age debate East Texas...

[SwampRanger]

Swamp Ranger, just save me a few to ground check when i get back in January!!

With the luck I'm having you will have everything to choose from

[SwampRanger]

Yes SwampRanger I'm in total agreement with ya on that!

Your welcome at our camp...seems these Barbours Hill yuppies we let on think it's ok to drink "beer" that looks like it's more fitting at a jazz gathering.....

[James]

3 or 4

[Greenheadless]

Mickey Hellickson and others did a study a few years ago that actually showed the accuracy of even the cementum annuli technique is not very accurate. Yes, better than the tooth replacement wear technique, but nowhere close to 85-90%. Relying on these aging techniques to set fines on hunters is a bad idea, IMO.

The overall accuracy rate they found for the cementum annuli technique was only 61%.

The split on their accuracy results was as follows:
Young (2.5-3.5) = 68%
Middle-Aged (4.5-5.5) = 53%
Mature (6.5-8.5) = 56%

Ideally, without having the deer tagged at birth, the best way to try to determine the age would probably be a combination of tooth wear, cementum annuli testing, and a historical photo record of a given deer (again IMO).

I am going t0 agree with you here. We used this this last year for a test.

We picked a couple of deer we were pretty sure of their age thru tracking them over the years.

The 7.5 year old deer aged at 12.5 years old.

The 6.5 year old deer aged at 3.5 years old.

Lastly, the 3.5 year old deer, aged at 10.5 years old. (This one had us scratching our head the most, his molar wear minimal, almost what most would consider a 2y.o.)

Needless to say, we are not impressed with the service.

Our deer tend to age via jaw examinations younger that they really are because of our browse. Some of the aging above had us scratching our heads comparing what they claim vs. what the tooth wear showed.

And no, aging by tooth wear isn’t anywhere as exact either. Best way to age is just knowing your herd. We have had deer that ware way mature age (6-8), that aged by tooth wear to as 3-4.

[sweldo73]

I am going t0 agree with you here. We used this this last year for a test.

We picked a couple of deer we were pretty sure of their age thru tracking them over the years.

The 7.5 year old deer aged at 12.5 years old.

The 6.5 year old deer aged at 3.5 years old.

Lastly, the 3.5 year old deer, aged at 10.5 years old. (This one had us scratching our head the most, his molar wear minimal, almost what most would consider a 2y.o.)

Needless to say, we are not impressed with the service.

Our deer tend to age via jaw examinations younger that they really are because of our browse. Some of the aging above had us scratching our heads comparing what they claim vs. what the tooth wear showed.

And no, aging by tooth wear isn’t anywhere as exact either. Best way to age is just knowing your herd. We have had deer that ware way mature age (6-8), that aged by tooth wear to as 3-4.

Interesting results on the CA testing - those are all over the map!

We've also had similar results from our biologist on the tooth wear aging with the teeth aging younger than we had them based on history.

[lovemylegacy]

Thread revived

[Filletem]

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I don’t remember being asked to post pics of my deer. I’m thinking 500 lbs. of corn would be a suitable fine for the infraction.

[SwampRanger]

I don’t remember being asked to post pics of my deer. I’m thinking 500 lbs. of corn would be a suitable fine for the infraction.

I will accept this plea agreement. Please leave the corn in the cook shack.

[GarGuy]

Great thread to bump. I have often stated that the more i learn, the less i know. ten years ago, you could have shown me a jaw bone and i would have proclaimed his age with great confidence. now, after hundreds of thousands of pics and history, I know that mature east tx deer will almost certainly tooth age a couple years too young.

Some deer that have never seen sandy corn may age even further off.

[lovemylegacy]

Great thread to bump. I have often stated that the more i learn, the less i know. ten years ago, you could have shown me a jaw bone and i would have proclaimed his age with great confidence. now, after hundreds of thousands of pics and history, I know that mature east tx deer will almost certainly tooth age a couple years too young.

Some deer that have never seen sandy corn may age even further off.

True!

[Filletem]

I will accept this plea agreement. Please leave the corn in the cook shack.

.

[Deadeye Mex]

Enjoying the information and coversation on this thread.

Tough pic to judge but I'd say 6+ and that does look like an injury above the shoulder.

IMO...Live viewing, trailcam pics, videos and tooth aging are all spokes in the wheel to help us make the best possible decision. Having multiple hunters involved in this process helps out a lot. Unless youre hunting where every buck has an ear tag, then its always going to be a 'best guess' situation. When it comes to aging on the hoof, there's no substitute for hunting the same herd on the same ranch for a long time.

OK, I'll stop. Good luck.

[sbushee]

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Age is irrelevant, someone in east Texas will steal it before too long

[DKW II]

I see a 3 year old deer, maybe 4. Cant get him older than that.

[SwampRanger]

Age is irrelevant, someone in east Texas will steal it before too long

We are very fortunate on this lease to be very secluded, basically one way in and one way out at the end of a long dead end road. I’ve been on 4 years and we have had no issues a at all with poaching or theft...knock on wood.