Matson's results update....

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I got my results from Matson's lab a few days ago, so I figure I would give an update with the pics of the jawbones, trail cam pics if I have them, and the age from the lab.

Interestingly, the rate the reliability of the results. An "A" means the results are text book example of the age provided, and they are confident of the result. "B" means that the result is supported by the text book, but they also give a range, and are confident that the actual age is in the range provided. "C" means they are not confident in the result and the actual age may be outside of the range give. I shipped 6 teeth, and got 4 "A" rated results and 2 "B"s.

I have had a box of jawbones lying around for years. I finally got around to sending them in mainly because of the buck I got in 2016. Here are the pics of that buck. I posted multiple trail cam pics of him on several forums and everybody agreed 4.5 plus. He was my target buck. When I shot him I popped the jawbone myself. It looks like a 2 year old without any wiggle room. The results from Matsons: 3 year old, confidence rating "B" with range of 2-3. LOL....that makes me think hes probably an early born 2 year old.

 

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These are the 2 does that I sent in, and a coastal carolina swamp buck. The top pic is the buck. Confidence rating "A", age 4 year old. This was surprise because I had him at least 5 years old.

The 2nd pic is a doe I shot a few years ago. The first molar is dished out that indicates 6 years old, but not much wear on the other teeth. I posted the pic here and it seems she had everybody fooled: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=299243 Matsons says 6 years old, confidence rating "A".

The bottom pic is the most wear I have ever had on a jawbone. This doe was lean but had the frame of a horse. She was definitely mature. Matson's says: 8 years old, confidence "B" age range 7-9.

 

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This buck is probably the biggest I've ever killed body size wise.....I believe about 200# live weight. I never saw him until he exploded on to all of my trail cam Oct '15. The pics indicated 4+ based on body size. The jawbone said 3, and Matsons agreed: 3 year old with "A" confidence.

 

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This buck did not have a large body. However, based on body fill, posture, trail cam history and the jawbone, I was confident that he's 4 years old. Matson's aged him at 4 with a confidence of "A".

 

[AT Hiker]

Very cool information. Thank you!


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[TX300mag]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing that with us.


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[Stlbaseball1]

Cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

[DaveB]

You come to any conclusions? For example, the big-bodied buck that suddenly appeared and was 3 years old despite a body of a 4? Do you think that by looking at the location of the trail cam that first snapped him you could tell from where maybe he came from ?

Do you think or know if the old doe was still fertile?

 

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You come to any conclusions? For example, the big-bodied buck that suddenly appeared and was 3 years old despite a body of a 4? Do you think that by looking at the location of the trail cam that first snapped him you could tell from where maybe he came from ?

Do you think or know if the old doe was still fertile?

Honestly the lab result more or less just satisfied a curiosity. The buck that showed up in October and was on all of my trail cams all month before I shot him on Nov 1st....not sure where he came from. I only have 92 acres so I get bucks showing up every October. Sometimes I recognize them from previous years.

Both the old does had fawns with them when I shot them. Interestingly, I've hunted this property for close to 30 years and shot close to 100 does off of it and that 8 year old is the oldest. But 3 days later I shot another doe a couple yards away that has almost identical amount of wear. I might send that one off if I ever do another batch.

The biggest conclusion I reached, is that my deer show modest wear for the age. And that my deer are healthy based on the body size of some of the young bucks.