What is your opinion on the age of this deer? It's got some really weird wear. He seems to be missing a tooth or at least part of one on his right side and the M1 is totally worn on the left side.
Weird Jawbone Opinion
- Thread starter TN Larry
- Start date
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Impossible to age accurately with that amount of atypical wear. Older than 2.5, but that's all that can be said for sure. I suspect its probably a 4.5yo tho. When I get one like that, I also look at the teeth of the maxilla (upper jawbone).
BSK
Well-Known Member
Looks like the deer had some sort of abnormality or even an impaction that forced abnormal chewing motion, leading to the strange wear pattern.
Looks like non-tooth material jammed around the base of the second permanent molar on the right side.
Looks like non-tooth material jammed around the base of the second permanent molar on the right side.
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
Possibly the deer had some British ancestry. Maybe even royalty.
My thoughts as well. I think that I can gather that he is at least 3.5 and maybe 4.5 but impossible to age based on the wear pattern. It's one of the weirder ones that I have seen.
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So here's a little more to the story on the deer:
- He came in right at the end of shooting light and acting like a mature deer this time of year. He was moving through some thick stuff, would make a few steps and stop, then a few more and stop. He was 50 yards before I knew he was there. I couldn't tell much about him in terms of how big his antlers were. I just knew that he was acting like an older deer, had a big frame in terms of body, and saw that he had a decent frame in terms of antler so I made the split second decision to shoot in the only opening that I had. I really didn't know if I was walking up on a 100" deer or 150" deer but took the chance based on his demeanor and what little I could tell about his body and antlers.
- He was small bodied and a super short deer in terms of length. He was run down hard, had scars and skinned places on his body, his left brow tine was broke along with 3 more tines having the tips broke. I am pretty sure that his left eye was put out as well. It just didn't looked right in terms of color and seemed to be offset in the socket compared to his other eye. His testicles were also about half the size of a normal buck but that could be due to a testosterone level drop after the rut. I am pretty sure he participated in the rut based on the above.
- The tip of his main beam and G3 on his left side were black. It looked like what sometimes a drop tine deer will look like on the bottom when they don't rub their velvet off.
Either way, he is dead but kind of a weird deer all the way around. I still think he is at least 3.5 and feel like probably 4.5.
I did get to break in a new gun and kill a deer in the snow.
- He came in right at the end of shooting light and acting like a mature deer this time of year. He was moving through some thick stuff, would make a few steps and stop, then a few more and stop. He was 50 yards before I knew he was there. I couldn't tell much about him in terms of how big his antlers were. I just knew that he was acting like an older deer, had a big frame in terms of body, and saw that he had a decent frame in terms of antler so I made the split second decision to shoot in the only opening that I had. I really didn't know if I was walking up on a 100" deer or 150" deer but took the chance based on his demeanor and what little I could tell about his body and antlers.
- He was small bodied and a super short deer in terms of length. He was run down hard, had scars and skinned places on his body, his left brow tine was broke along with 3 more tines having the tips broke. I am pretty sure that his left eye was put out as well. It just didn't looked right in terms of color and seemed to be offset in the socket compared to his other eye. His testicles were also about half the size of a normal buck but that could be due to a testosterone level drop after the rut. I am pretty sure he participated in the rut based on the above.
- The tip of his main beam and G3 on his left side were black. It looked like what sometimes a drop tine deer will look like on the bottom when they don't rub their velvet off.
Either way, he is dead but kind of a weird deer all the way around. I still think he is at least 3.5 and feel like probably 4.5.
I did get to break in a new gun and kill a deer in the snow.
I had a buck back in 2014 that had very similar wear but on the same molar on each side. I'm talking worn down to the gum line. IIRC BSK aged him at 4-1/2. Very strange, looked almost as if he was missing the same tooth on each side, but even stranger was they were both prematurely worn down that far.
