Here are a couple pics of a buck I shot yesterday...the jawbone and trailcam pics. He was on the target list because from the body he appears to be at least 3 years old, and that is my threshold. The jawbone has very little wear. For over twenty years I have boiled out every jawbone from the deer that I have killed that was at least two years old...with maybe a couple of late season long yearling does as well.
One thing that I have noticed is that on most classic 2 year olds the last cusp of the back molar has a high gum line. On this buck it does not have a high gum line, which to me indicates that he older than 2. Is this legit clue for purposes of jawbone aging? I will post a pic of the jaw from a done I shot last month next to the buck jawbone as an example. Also, some older deer do have a higher gumline, but not as high as the example, and are easy to distinguish.
One thing that I have noticed is that on most classic 2 year olds the last cusp of the back molar has a high gum line. On this buck it does not have a high gum line, which to me indicates that he older than 2. Is this legit clue for purposes of jawbone aging? I will post a pic of the jaw from a done I shot last month next to the buck jawbone as an example. Also, some older deer do have a higher gumline, but not as high as the example, and are easy to distinguish.