Age this jaw

[Antlers86]

Had an antler gouged through his bottom jaw left side.

[Droptine3030]

4.5 tops

[brokeno]

I was thinking 4 too

[Capt.Brown]

Looks like teeth show 4, so he’s anywhere from 3-12years old.

[GarGuy]

Yep he had 4 points on each side so I knew he was a 4 year old.

[Bucknaked]

In lol

[RMW]

Teeth look closer to 5 than 4 to me, I’m still sticking to my initial 6 year old guess on the other thread.

[Forman]

Tooth wear indicates 4.5 years old. The body indicates an adult, not a mature adult or an over the hill adult. A very nice buck!

[Capt.Brown]

Yep he had 4 points on each side so I knew he was a 4 year old.

I like this, much more accurate!

[Top Of Texas]

Ouch! That had to hurt.

[texasdeerhunter]

I don’t 100% endorse teeth aging, but he looks 6.5 based on those teeth.

[DeerGeek]

3-4 middle aged

[Top Of Texas]

This is going to sound so condescending, but I swear, I don't intend it that way. I really just want everyone to understand the technique, its applications and limitations, and for hunters to get better at ageing deer on the hoof.

I continue to be perplexed by the individuals who will respond to tooth age inquiries who don't understand the methodology. Guessing is fine so long as it's acknowledged. But I really don't understand those that attack the value of the technique while having little to no understanding of it.

Antlers86,
To address your question - It's a sequential process of objective elimination from the front to the back. So for this deer:
First - are all premolars (the front 3 teeth) permanent teeth? Yes, so deer is at least 2 years old.
Second - Examining the tongue side crests of the first molar (tooth #4), is the dentine (the dark stuff) as wide or wider than the enamel (white stuff) that surrounds it? Yes, so deer is at least 3 years old.
Third - Examining the tongue side crests of the second molar (tooth #5), is the dentine (the dark stuff) as wide or wider than the enamel (white stuff) that surrounds it? No, the dentine is just a thin line, so the deer does not meet the criteria for 4 years, so we call the deer 3 years old.

I will not dive into the application (for the millionth time) on this thread, but we know this deer, regardless of exact years, was not of an age to have peaked in antler growth.

There is mention in the technique about sharpness/dullness of those tongue side crests, but that remains subjective and highly variable from deer to deer. This deer has unusually worn crests relative to the dentine width.

The act of those crests wearing down is what exposes more of the dentine (the dark stuff). They appear to wear from the front to the back, but that's only because the first molar (tooth #4) is the oldest tooth in the jaw (fawn), while tooth #5 is a year younger (1st birthday), and tooth #6 is another year younger (2nd birthday). So the teeth are generally wearing at the same rate, they've just existed for different lengths of time. That's the basic concept.

[GarGuy]

I think what you may be missing here TOT is that some of these people are comparing those teeth to teeth of their known age deer, not some bs chart.

[Top Of Texas]

I think what you may be missing here TOT is that some of these people are comparing those teeth to teeth of their known age deer, not some bs chart.

Like I said, I'm not gonna get into it on this thread.

However, here in...probably a few months, I'll start a thread on the subject that I think everyone will find interesting. I may start several in order to maintain focus.