Age this jawbone

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Andy S.

Andy S.

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Atoka, TN
I am posting this for TnDeer member "W.Seay." The buck was killed yesterday in SW TN. FWIW, I say "tweener" and I'm leaning toward a late born 3.5. I think Will is looking for several opinions on this one so chime in if you will. Thanks in advance everyone.

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looks like 2.5 especially considering this late in the year. Doesn't help that the back molar is busted up.
 
I think 3.5, he was in a thicket and all I could see was his 10" g2's. It was a now or never, I shot. I don't like to kill bucks unless they are atleast 4.5, oh well it's Done now.
 
Just based on the above pics, I would have to learn towards 2 1/2. Keep in mind it is late in the year and a 2 1/2 SHOULD have a little more wear now than they did in October or November.

But by no means am I saying this deer wasn't 3 1/2. If I had that jawbone in my hand, I might be saying 3 1/2. Or if I had actually seen that buck on the hoof, I might be saying 3 1/2.

Each deer is an individual, and some have faster or slower-wearing teeth, just like humans. My bet is this buck may have been 3 1/2, but just based on the above pics, I'd have to "guess" 2 1/2.

By the way, Will, it is statisically unlikely this buck was 2 1/2 if he had 10" G-2's, and I believe he must have "looked" like a 3 1/2 or older for you to have shot him. But it is possible he was only 2 1/2.
 
I have never seen a 2.5 year old buck from this property with the body size or rack size of this buck. He's either a great magnum 2.5 year old (for this specific farm) or a 3.5 year old, I'm puzzled??
 
W.Seay said:
He's either a great magnum 2.5 year old (for this specific farm) or a 3.5 year old, I'm puzzled??
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Probably will remain puzzled.
If you show that jawbone to experienced deer agers, most may say it APPEARS 2 1/2. But the pic of your buck makes him look more like 3 1/2. Will agree with Andy this was likely a very late-born 3 1/2, but also could have been a very early-born 2 1/2.
 
that's the thing with jaw bones....they tend to underage, sometimes heavily. I guarantee there are probably a good # 4.5 year old deer running around out there that by the teeth would be called 2.5
 
No older than 2 1/2. Look at the lack of wear and staining on the premolars. A 3 1/2, even a late-born 3 1/2, would have MUCH more wear and staining on the premolars.
 
I'm in the 2.5 crowd as well. Just the top 5-10% of age class in body wt and antler spread/score.

don't beat yourself up, mistakes happen. Lord knows I made one this year and witnessed a bunch of other guys screw ups.

Here's a 2.5 y/o my buddy shot on my property... Gross score around 115"
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My cousin shot a 1.5 y/o 'antlerless' buck that had unbroken 1" antlers he thought was a doe. another buddy killed a 1.5 y/o antlerless buck on his land.

As long as you go through a reasonable thought process before pulling the trigger, I wouldn't worry about the occasional screw-up.
 
BSK said:
No older than 2 1/2. Look at the lack of wear and staining on the premolars. A 3 1/2, even a late-born 3 1/2, would have MUCH more wear and staining on the premolars.
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How can you say that with such certainty?

What about the size of his neck, especially considering this late date?
 
Wes Parrish said:
BSK said:
No older than 2 1/2. Look at the lack of wear and staining on the premolars. A 3 1/2, even a late-born 3 1/2, would have MUCH more wear and staining on the premolars.
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How can you say that with such certainty?

What about the size of his neck, especially considering this late date?
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X 2
 
Wes Parrish said:
BSK said:
No older than 2 1/2. Look at the lack of wear and staining on the premolars. A 3 1/2, even a late-born 3 1/2, would have MUCH more wear and staining on the premolars.
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How can you say that with such certainty?
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From aging about a thousand jawbones.
 
BigGameGuy said:
He would go down in the "books" as a 2-1/2. Just trying to stay consistent for Mega... :D
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I'm not THAT anal :)

BigGameGuy said:
FYI - I scored a 172" TN deer last week that was a slam dunk 2-1/2 year old jawbone.
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Holy cow, post the pic or get the hunter to post it! That's a 1/250,000 event!!!

The best 2.5 y/o I've seen this year was a high 130's clean 10. (killed in MS)
 
If someone argued 3-1/2 I wouldn't put up a fight but I promise you that deer was no more than 3-1/2. The size of that jawbone even leaned toward 2-1/2.
 
Mega -

Here are the pics of the actual deer. I'll send the pics of the jawbone tonight after he sends them to me.

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In the grand scheme of things, I'd call this deer "middle-aged", he definitely doesn't fall into the "mature" category.
 
Absolutely georgeous!!! One of the prettiest bucks I've EVER seen. Love the brow tines!

The new MS archery record was only 3.5... and he ended up 198 4/8 gross (green)
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OK, I think we've officially hijacked this thread, but at least it's got some cool pics on it :)
 

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