Aging Bucks on the Hoof

[ranwin33]

Just read the article, Aging Bucks on the Hoof by Charles Alsheimer.

All I can say is finally somebody was willing to put it in print.  In short he states that most people can't determine a bucks age beyond 3.5-4.5 years, even the experts. 

Plus the part about ballpark aging and well as basic descriptors for the various ages was exceptional. 

Way to go Charlie!!

[ReflexHunter]

I agree!!!  I think it is hard to age deer from different areas as well, because where I hunt it seems way different than other places.

[gunther89]

Reflex Hunter I agree with you being from Wisconsin I swear a 3.5 year old buck has a bigger body then most states 3.5 year olds do or at least where I hunt they do.

[JPH]

I'm with you guys. The article made me feel better about my own inability to field judge beyond 3.5 years.
 
I target any buck 3.5 or older. I have gotten excited and over estimated a couple of 2.5s but my real QDM goal is to protect yearlings.  
 
I know according to CA I should eventually become good enough to judge all the way to 4.5. But he reminds us all that it is only an educated guess.

[ranwin33]

I know what you mean about over estimating 2.5's. 
 
I've got one on my wall that I was sure was 3.5 or older when we were viewing him on pictures.  But after shooting him, I'm thinking he might have been 2.5, just didn't have the body weight I was expecting.  He did have heavy tarsal staining though, so maybe he was 3.5.
 

[JOEL]

how'd yall do on the photo quiz?i got it right .that pot belly gives em away[:D]

[Woods Walker]

ORIGINAL: JOEL

how'd yall do on the photo quiz?i got it right .that pot belly gives em away[:D]

 
Me too! Racks are a big deceiver. Shy of looking at the teeth (which is the ONLY sure way), the next best way is to judge body mass. That's STILL tricky, because of local diets, how much body weight the animal's lost due to the rut, and tooth wear (a very old deer with bad or few good teeth will NOT look that big).
 
I've spent most of my life around horses and cattle, and it's pretty much the same. In fact with horses, when they get past 12 or so, it gets real hard to age them with their teeth, as they all wear differently. Soil has a lot to do with it. The most sand and grit is in the soil they feed from the more tooth wear they will have.

[JPH]

I also passed the quiz, but it was irrelevent. They were both "shooters" for me, so I'd do my aging with the jawbone in my hands. [;)]
 
The one that got me was the photo of the two 2.5's.

[JOEL]

"shooter's"? does the freezer got space?then its a shooter.[:D]

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: JOEL

"shooter's"? does the freezer got space?then its a shooter.[:D]

 
Yeah, I hate the term too. The only reason I ever use it is because "buck of apparently 3.5 years of age or older, that I am willing to burn my any-sex tag on" takes too long to say.