Aging deer a matter of studying bodies

Posted on: November 21, 2017 | Bob Frye | Comments

Aging deer is a skill that can be learned.

Aging deer properly means learning to look for and identify body characteristics.
Bob Frye/Everybody Adventures

In the “olden days” – you know, way back 15 years ago – aging deer meant one thing.

Letting venison hang in a cooler to enhance the tenderness.

No more. Nowadays, when hunters talk of aging deer, there’s at least an even chance they’re referring to birthdays.

As in, how many that deer has celebrated in the woods.

Increasingly, if the answer seems to be too few, many hunters let that buck or even doe walk to grow larger.

That’s just one of the impacts of things like antler restrictions and quality deer management practices.

Of course, it’s one thing to pass on a deer – buck or doe – that was obviously a fawn in spring. Those deer are smaller, with shorter faces, and have, in the case of “button” bucks, little knobs where antlers will one day be.

Telling a 1.5-year-old deer from a 2.5-year-old, or a 3.5-year-old from a 4.5-year-old, can be a lot tougher, especially when it’s walking past your stand and you’ve got only seconds to decide whether to pull the trigger.

There are some resources out there to help, though.

Realtree has a “how to age bucks on the hoof” post on its website that’s good. It not only describes how bucks look at different stages of their life, but offers graphics, too.

Another good site to visit is the Bone Collector site. There’s a lot of good information and photos there, too.

If you’re goal is to be able to age deer in the field, though, don’t stop there.

Collect as many trail camera photos as you can and test yourself. Try to estimate deer ages based on how they look.

Then, if you kill one of those deer, check its teeth. Older deer will have darker teeth that are worn down.
You should be able to tell, with at least some level of precision, whether a deer was as old as you suspected.

The graphics below from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation explain what to look for and give examples of what you may see.

So get out there and start aging.

 

Bob Frye is the everybodyadventures.com editor. Reach him at 412-838-5148 or bfrye@535mediallc.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodyadventures.com.

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