NO Teeth?

[Javelin]

so here lately I have been hearing more and more people on fb, in person and on TBH say "I shot an old buck that had no teeth." sometimes when asked they have said yes his teeth were all gone. I really have a hard time believing that. I am guessing that they are either exaggerating or not looking far enough back. so anyone got any pics of jaw bones of really really old deer?

[jshouse]

[texashunter56]

This is the only old one I took pics of. I have seen some older than this buck. All deer have some teeth or what is left of a few teeth. They will be worn to the or below the gum-line.

[cantexduck]

A lot of time people don’t look far enough back. Seen it many times by experienced hunters.

[Walker]

I wouldnt think a deer can live with no teeth. Years ago the biologists at Kerr told me that thr reason deer die is because their teeth wore out.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Guarantee you they're looking at the upper jaw... NO deer have ANY upper front teeth, and the molars start pretty far back.

[Javelin]

This is the only old one I took pics of. I have seen some older than this buck. All deer have some teeth or what is left of a few teeth. They will be worn to the or below the gum-line.

I would love to see more pics like this.

[texashunter56]

I would love to see more pics like this.

This buck was just as old or older than the buck jawbone I posted above. He was a 6x6 the first time I saw him and very mature. Still a 6x6 the next year but showing his age. This is him the 3rd year I had history with him. This buck and the one pictured above lived in the same part of a 5000 acre pasture and ate out of the same protein feeder. I did no have any history of either of them before 2003 or after 2006. This ranch had some of the oldest bucks I have seen and was LF prior to 2003. Here is a pic of the buck that was a 6x6 later on on 2005 when he was a 5x5. He was never killed that I know of.

[AntlerCollector]

I believe lots of folks are simply seeing the incisors then looking at the diastema, and thinking all the teeth are gone

[bowmansdad]

The buck I killed this year was down to/below the gum line, top and bottom, with no visible molars at all. I checked all the way back and I was shocked at what I saw. I’ve looked at plenty of jawbones to know what I’m looking at. I did not take a pic which I’m still mad about but I know what I saw and felt. This deer did not have an ounce of fat on his body which tells me that he was older also.

[Smart]

A lot of time people don’t look far enough back. Seen it many times by experienced hunters.

Yup. By the time they look, rigomortis has set in and they just do a quick look.

[RR 314]

Haaaa. They post here that there were no teeth and the head was either dumped in a stock tank, the taxidermist lost the jaw or a pesky chupacabra hauled off the remnants. :-)

[Mike Murphey]

If you have a good management program then you will be taking some really old bucks with teeth worn down.

[Snowflake Killa]

I think ageing deer by there teeth is very inaccurate. We have lots of proof of it.

[texashunter56]

If you have a good management program then you will be taking some really old bucks with teeth worn down.

For most that is the case. I have a friend that allows his best top end bucks to die of old age. He has pictures and history of several that have gone to 14 yrs of age. Many live well past 10 and still have some their best antler growth in those years. They tend to quit rutting and mainly eat to survive at the older ages is what he has seen.