Regret not aging a buck

[Duh]

So a couple years back I killed my first buck with a bow and he turned out to be what I consider a giant. I’ve never been a photographer or into taking pictures with me in them (weird for a millennial I know).

I definitely regret not taking the extra time to get some quality pictures but what I regret even more is not sending the teeth in for aging. I got caught up in the moment and enjoyed soaking that portion of the hunt up but I also got him cut up fast and didn’t think to save the bottom jaw. I’d really like to know the age at this point but only have the top teeth from the euro mount. Is there a different form of age testing without the bottom teeth?

Here’s the buck in question

 

[Rob5589]

No idea but great buck!

 

[def90]

Does it really matter?

 

[Duh]

Not that it really matters but I’m generally curios. From my knowledge, this is one of the best bucks to come out of that area and the place he was found was almost to easy to access. Again, if there is another method to finding out age, then I’d like to explore that option.

 

[bigmoose]

Yes sir, that is a giant. Awesome buck! Definitely an older buck too. I wish I had had some of my bucks aged. Your buck would have looked great as a shoulder mount on the wall. Congrats !

 

[Farmer9770]

I believe you can age through cemetom annuli aging (sp?) through any tooth. If you Google it there are several places you can mail a tooth in and they cross cut it , like aging growth rings on a tree. Great buck!

 

[SWOHTR]

I get the curiosity but I would also say don’t get hung up about it. He was “old enough” and “big enough.” Just be happy with that IMO, no need to put any numbers on it. I would also congratulate you for relishing in the moment!

 

[Duh]

I believe you can age through cemetom annuli aging (sp?) through any tooth. If you Google it there are several places you can mail a tooth in and they cross cut it , like aging growth rings on a tree. Great buck!

Sweet. Thank you

 

[Stalker69]

Well, he was as old as he will get.

 

[OKHunter84]

Dude that's a gnarly cool buck. He looks old to me with all the white on his face. He's big enough that it really doesn't matter how old he is. Especially for a first bow kill.

 

[Duh]

Dude that's a gnarly cool buck. He looks old to me with all the white on his face. He's big enough that it really doesn't matter how old he is. Especially for a first bow kill.

Thanks man. It’s not that big of a deal, but if there was another non intrusive method of testing at this point (without sacrificing the teeth) I’d like to know. I only found out about aging well after I killed him and thought it would be cool to show the kids what a ninja their dad is down the road haha.

 

[MattB]

We sent the teeth in to age some blacktail we killed here in CA and the results were really eye-opening. My biggest deer was 10 1/2 and my friend killed a really big, regressing forkie that was 12 1/2.

It was really shocking to learn how long some deer live out here considering that when I read about “old” white tails, they tend to be in the 5 1/2-7 1/2 range.

 

[Duh]

I think you mean the “dinosaurs” you killed. That’s sweet.

 

[ODB]

I sincerely appreciate the curiosity about aging animals. In my opinion as hunter/naturalists we should take note of these things.

Age is one of the first questions I ask anyone who has successfully hunted an elephant. It was “common knowledge” that elephant lived 100+…until people really started paying attention and realized that elephant get their 6th and final set of teeth at about 45 and can maybe stretch them out to 60…maybe…

As to your buck, I’d call your local fish and game, dept of natural resources. That’s a real dandy of a deer.