Thoughts on age of this buck — Updated with pictures

[JJ3]

I'm curious of your thoughts on the age of this buck based on these jawbone pictures. I will post pics of the deer later. This one confused me. My daughter thought it might be a 2.5 yr when she shot it. But when we ripped off the hide and butchered, it had far more fat on it than any 2.5 yr dear I've ever done — more like a mature deer. And when I pulled back the lips and looked at side view of jaw, the teeth appeared to have more wear — the molars are not sharp.

Thanks!

I've updated with photos of the deer — trail cam pics from last week and on the ground pic from Sunday morning. We didn't get a weight on it but it had a girth of 40 1/2".

 

[GOHUNT]

That one's pretty old…maybe 6+?

 

[megalomaniac]

At least 4.5, prob 5.5

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

5 1/2 plus

 

[TN Larry]

4.5

 

[Andy S.]

4.5+, which is 4.5 guaranteed, but could be 5.5. I'd record as 4.5. Thank you for cleaning up the jawbone before posting, that helps a lot.

 

[JJ3]

4.5+, which is 4.5 guaranteed, but could be 5.5. I'd record as 4.5. Thank you for cleaning up the jawbone before posting, that helps a lot.

Yeah I thought 4.5+ based on teeth wear. And the body fat was definitely consistent with 4.5+.

It's amazing the difference in size bucks on the same property can be. This deer had a girth of 40 1/2". The deer I killed last week, and posted pics of, had a girth of 45". Likely similar age deer and my deer had at least 60 - 80 lbs on this one.

I've updated this post with pictures of the deer.

 

[Snake]

You all know teeth better than I do for sure but looking at his body and I could most definitely be wrong I'll go against the grain so I'd say 3.5 . No sway in his back at all usually they start a little sway back @ 4.5 . The 3.5 seven point I killed opening muzzleloader had loads of fat more , than any buck I've killed in a long time .

 

[megalomaniac]

Good one to take out

As an aside, there is zero correlation between body fat and age in my experience

 

[JJ3]

You all know teeth better than I do for sure but looking at his body and I could most definitely be wrong I'll go against the grain so I'd say 3.5 . No sway in his back at all usually the start a little sway back @ 4.5 . The 3.5 seven point I killed opening muzzleloader had loads of fat more , than any buck I've killed in a long time .

I don't disagree with you! When we saw the pics of this deer last week, I was thinking maybe 3.5 at most. But when I looked at the teeth, it seemed there was more wear. Like I said at the beginning this one confuses me! But he's old as he's going to get now!

 

[JJ3]

Good one to take out

As an aside, there is zero correlation between body fat and age in my experience

Agree, good one to take out!

 

[Appalachian American]

4.5

 

[fairchaser]

You all know teeth better than I do for sure but looking at his body and I could most definitely be wrong I'll go against the grain so I'd say 3.5 . No sway in his back at all usually they start a little sway back @ 4.5 . The 3.5 seven point I killed opening muzzleloader had loads of fat more , than any buck I've killed in a long time .

I'm gonna agree that the tooth wear says 3.5. The body looks 4.5 though. I'm not seeing 5.5 at all.

 

[WTNBowHunter]

I'm not a biologist but my guess is 3.5 max based on the jawbone alone. If I'm not mistaken, some of the tooth wear on the jawbone will depend on the diet as well.

 

[Snake]

I'm not a biologist but my guess is 3.5 max based on the jawbone alone. If I'm not mistaken, some of the tooth wear on the jawbone will depend on the diet as well.

That's why the experts can't agree totally on tooth wear because of diet . Also could reflect body size as well so .... it's a guess using those two factors . Getting within a year or so is good .