Aging by teeth where to send?

[ateague11]

Where can I send off deer teeth so they can be aged exactly and how much does it cost?

[Huntingfool]

Where can I send off deer teeth so they can be aged exactly and how much does it cost?

www.deerage.com They are in Burnet Texas - normally around $40-80 per deer based on what turn around time you want

[glen]

Make a board if you do this. Glue on board and get every age group. Same area should have same browse and minerals and look same. Only thing that may change your aging board will be if you change your feed program it may have some minor changes. Best way for regular folks to properly age deer in my opinion

[Chance Love]

Where can I send off deer teeth so they can be aged exactly and how much does it cost?

They can’t be aged EXACTLY. Don’t even waste your money sending them off. All they can tell you is what age the teeth are supposed to show. It won’t tell you what age they actually are. Just my opinion...with a little experience thrown in.

[Lone_Wolf]

All I know is I've seen some very old deer come from the black land prairie region, and there teeth hardly shown any wear. The old standard tooth aging board would be of no use in this area. Got to be the soil type or what there eating isn't wearing there teeth as bad. Trail cam pics back up their age.

[Rwc]

They can’t be aged EXACTLY. Don’t even waste your money sending them off. All they can tell you is what age the teeth are supposed to show. It won’t tell you what age they actually are. Just my opinion...with a little experience thrown in.

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Rwc

[Lone_Wolf]

They can’t be aged EXACTLY. Don’t even waste your money sending them off. All they can tell you is what age the teeth are supposed to show. It won’t tell you what age they actually are. Just my opinion...with a little experience thrown in.

Do you have experience looking at a cross section of the root of the tooth? I believe that's what deerage.com does.

[Sunnylab]

visual aging by teeth is not very accurate. Even when done by "professionals".

[muddyz]

They are now in Montana but still do the aging. They don’t require the whole lower jaw, only a couple of teeth. $33 sounds reasonable enough to me.

From their FAQ:

HOW DOES CEMENTUM-ANNULI COMPARE TO THAT OF ERUPTION-WEAR?
The molar wear technique of aging ungulates compares the tooth wear of known age animals to the tooth wear of harvested animals. The theory is that you should be able to determine age by finding a match, wear wise, with a known age specimen. I think the cold hard facts show that this is just guesswork, especially for deer 2 ½ years or older. Simply spoken, molar wear does not work if you want an accurate age of the animal you harvested. It is a myth that is still taught to wildlife biologists in college today, even though only one study done in 1949 purported to have scientific evidence it actually worked. Ever study done since then has been unable to verify its accuracy.
The cementum-annuli (cross-sectioning teeth) method of aging deer, elk and other wild animals is much different. It first requires decalcifying the central lower incisors (sometimes the M1 molar or other tooth) and then cutting cross-sections of the root tips to a thinness measured in microns. The slice of tooth is then placed on a slide and a special dye is added to enhance viewing. It is placed under a microscope. Lines within the tooth’s diameter are readily visible and can be counted much like the rings of growth on a tree, indicating a deer’s age.

[TexasCanesFan]

They can’t be aged EXACTLY. Don’t even waste your money sending them off. All they can tell you is what age the teeth are supposed to show. It won’t tell you what age they actually are. Just my opinion...with a little experience thrown in.

Chance - I was under the impression that cementum annuli aging was an accurate way to actually age deer. Have you not found that to be the case?

[ar3731guy]

We sent some jaws off a few years ago from known aged deer. These were deer that were tagged as fawns. The results were all over the board. Deer we knew were 4 years old came back at anywhere from 3 to 6 years old. So take it for what's its worth.

[sweldo73]

Actual scientific studies have been conducted that demonstrate the inaccuracy of the tooth replacement wear (TRW) and cementum annuli (CA) methods. As others have said, the TRW method is highly inaccurate the older they are. The CA method is more accurate, but only averages around 60% when attempting to determine exact year age.

Results of one study:

[Chance Love]

Do you have experience looking at a cross section of the root of the tooth? I believe that's what deerage.com does.

That is what they do. In my experience this method is no more effective than our guesses. If you are asking if I have ever personally cut a tooth, then no.

Chance - I was under the impression that cementum annuli aging was an accurate way to actually age deer. Have you not found that to be the case?

It is widely known to be inaccurate. And in my opinion it’s a waste of $$.

We sent some jaws off a few years ago from known aged deer. These were deer that were tagged as fawns. The results were all over the board. Deer we knew were 4 years old came back at anywhere from 3 to 6 years old. So take it for what's its worth.

This is what I have experienced. It simply is no more accurate than our guesses.

[ateague11]

Thanks for the info and this would be for a blackland prairie deer

[No-Tox]

Thanks for the info and this would be for a blackland prairie deer

Oh, then the answer is 3.5 years old.