Crooked Horn Antelope

WyoDoug,

Hijacked from the Wyoming Game and Fish...

While hunting pronghorn antelope in Wyoming many hunters will stop at a game check station. At these check stations, you will often find more than one WGFD employee at the tailgate of a parked truck, huddled around harvested animals and their hunting party. Usually, one biologist will examine each animal while hollering out numbers to the other biologist, who will record the information onto a piece of paper, tablet, or smart phone. More often than not, when hunters hear “this pronghorn is two years old,” looks of skepticism immediately follow. Next, the hunter will usually ask the biologist how they know how old their antelope is and the biologist will explain the process for aging an antelope.
If you pull down the front lip of a pronghorn and look at the front teeth, the incisors, the first thing you’ll notice is that they only have lower front teeth. As you move from the front of the jaw to the back, you will see four front teeth on either side of the jaw (eight total) followed by a toothless gap before the start of the pre-molars and molars. You only need to examine the tooth replacement pattern of the incisors to estimate the field age of a pronghorn.
You can easily recognize a fawn antelope because of their smaller size, shorter face profile, and the presence of all eight deciduous incisors (also known as baby teeth or milk teeth).
24774698_1822126604477906_4037050164662533305_n.png

Each year, one of the deciduous incisors on each side of the jaw will be replaced by a permanent adult tooth. This replacement starts with the front two teeth. So a yearling pronghorn will have two permanent adult front incisors followed by three deciduous incisors on each side.

24312691_1822127037811196_4693082250705852089_n.png

By the next year’s hunting season, that same pronghorn will be approximately two years old and the second deciduous incisors will have been replaced by two more permanent adult teeth.
24059138_1822127931144440_6735747515703042136_n.png

During the pronghorn’s third year, the third incisors are replaced.
24312875_1822128161144417_943221489093372978_n.png

By the time the pronghorn is a four year old, the fourth permanent incisors, which are actually the canines even though they look like incisors, will have erupted. At this point all of the eight incisors will be permanent adult teeth and all a biologist can determine in the field is the pronghorn is at least four years old. To determine an accurate age for antelope four years old and older, biologists can extract and send the middle two incisors to a lab for aging. There are some variations to incisor replacement as teeth do not always replace at the same time.
24312387_1822128347811065_2667886814805860569_n.png
 
WyoDoug,

Hijacked from the Wyoming Game and Fish...

While hunting pronghorn antelope in Wyoming many hunters will stop at a game check station. At these check stations, you will often find more than one WGFD employee at the tailgate of a parked truck, huddled around harvested animals and their hunting party. Usually, one biologist will examine each animal while hollering out numbers to the other biologist, who will record the information onto a piece of paper, tablet, or smart phone. More often than not, when hunters hear “this pronghorn is two years old,” looks of skepticism immediately follow. Next, the hunter will usually ask the biologist how they know how old their antelope is and the biologist will explain the process for aging an antelope.
If you pull down the front lip of a pronghorn and look at the front teeth, the incisors, the first thing you’ll notice is that they only have lower front teeth. As you move from the front of the jaw to the back, you will see four front teeth on either side of the jaw (eight total) followed by a toothless gap before the start of the pre-molars and molars. You only need to examine the tooth replacement pattern of the incisors to estimate the field age of a pronghorn.
You can easily recognize a fawn antelope because of their smaller size, shorter face profile, and the presence of all eight deciduous incisors (also known as baby teeth or milk teeth).
24774698_1822126604477906_4037050164662533305_n.png

Each year, one of the deciduous incisors on each side of the jaw will be replaced by a permanent adult tooth. This replacement starts with the front two teeth. So a yearling pronghorn will have two permanent adult front incisors followed by three deciduous incisors on each side.

24312691_1822127037811196_4693082250705852089_n.png

By the next year’s hunting season, that same pronghorn will be approximately two years old and the second deciduous incisors will have been replaced by two more permanent adult teeth.
24059138_1822127931144440_6735747515703042136_n.png

During the pronghorn’s third year, the third incisors are replaced.
24312875_1822128161144417_943221489093372978_n.png

By the time the pronghorn is a four year old, the fourth permanent incisors, which are actually the canines even though they look like incisors, will have erupted. At this point all of the eight incisors will be permanent adult teeth and all a biologist can determine in the field is the pronghorn is at least four years old. To determine an accurate age for antelope four years old and older, biologists can extract and send the middle two incisors to a lab for aging. There are some variations to incisor replacement as teeth do not always replace at the same time.
24312387_1822128347811065_2667886814805860569_n.png

Buzz - where on the G&F website did you find this?

I have a special reason for asking.

ClearCreek
 
WyoDoug,

Hijacked from the Wyoming Game and Fish...

While hunting pronghorn antelope in Wyoming many hunters will stop at a game check station. At these check stations, you will often find more than one WGFD employee at the tailgate of a parked truck, huddled around harvested animals and their hunting party. Usually, one biologist will examine each animal while hollering out numbers to the other biologist, who will record the information onto a piece of paper, tablet, or smart phone. More often than not, when hunters hear “this pronghorn is two years old,” looks of skepticism immediately follow. Next, the hunter will usually ask the biologist how they know how old their antelope is and the biologist will explain the process for aging an antelope.
If you pull down the front lip of a pronghorn and look at the front teeth, the incisors, the first thing you’ll notice is that they only have lower front teeth. As you move from the front of the jaw to the back, you will see four front teeth on either side of the jaw (eight total) followed by a toothless gap before the start of the pre-molars and molars. You only need to examine the tooth replacement pattern of the incisors to estimate the field age of a pronghorn.
You can easily recognize a fawn antelope because of their smaller size, shorter face profile, and the presence of all eight deciduous incisors (also known as baby teeth or milk teeth).
24774698_1822126604477906_4037050164662533305_n.png

Each year, one of the deciduous incisors on each side of the jaw will be replaced by a permanent adult tooth. This replacement starts with the front two teeth. So a yearling pronghorn will have two permanent adult front incisors followed by three deciduous incisors on each side.

24312691_1822127037811196_4693082250705852089_n.png

By the next year’s hunting season, that same pronghorn will be approximately two years old and the second deciduous incisors will have been replaced by two more permanent adult teeth.
24059138_1822127931144440_6735747515703042136_n.png

During the pronghorn’s third year, the third incisors are replaced.
24312875_1822128161144417_943221489093372978_n.png

By the time the pronghorn is a four year old, the fourth permanent incisors, which are actually the canines even though they look like incisors, will have erupted. At this point all of the eight incisors will be permanent adult teeth and all a biologist can determine in the field is the pronghorn is at least four years old. To determine an accurate age for antelope four years old and older, biologists can extract and send the middle two incisors to a lab for aging. There are some variations to incisor replacement as teeth do not always replace at the same time.
24312387_1822128347811065_2667886814805860569_n.png
Very interesting. I wondered how my last Wy antelope was determined to be at least 4 years old per the warden. Thanks for the info
 
Exactly. Beyond four years is edumacated guesswork at best. Counting those teef are the way to do it most accurately. There are tests a biologist can do but rarely does mostly due to cost to determine after 4 years and that would be in the lab usually.
 
Warden told me most antelope that are harvested are 1 1/2 to 2 years old on the bucks
 

BuzzH:

Thanks for the link. I thought that document looked extremely familiar. I wrote it and placed it in the Sheridan Region WGFD Monthly Newsletter in October or November of 2017. I did not realize it had been placed on Facebook.

ClearCreek
 
Warden told me most antelope that are harvested are 1 1/2 to 2 years old on the bucks

Maybe in some areas of Wyoming that may be true, but in the Sheridan, Buffalo, Kaycee area most of the antelope coming through game check stations are 2 1/2 years old and older, with many over 4 1/2 years of age.

ClearCreek
 
Last edited:

WyoDoug:

I am well aware of the techniques used to age big game animals using teeth, either with tooth replacement or with cross sectioning incisors.

I have looked in the mouths of over a thousand pronghorn antelope, both bucks and does, to determine age and record the information.

ClearCreek
 
WyoDoug:

I am well aware of the techniques used to age big game animals using teeth, either with tooth replacement or with cross sectioning incisors.

I have looked in the mouths of over a thousand pronghorn antelope, both bucks and does, to determine age and record the information.

ClearCreek
You must be one of the G&F staff then. I delivered records to them up until everything went digital.
 
I was, retired two years ago.

ClearCreek
Good time to retire. Severe budget situation now and many programs getting cut and probably first time we may see state employees laid off.

I retire in less than 120 days myself for the fourth job I got a retirement package from.
 
Exactly. Beyond four years is edumacated guesswork at best. Counting those teef are the way to do it most accurately. There are tests a biologist can do but rarely does mostly due to cost to determine after 4 years and that would be in the lab usually.
In response to why I say the antelope in the picture I posted is emaciated is you have to consider the habitat that it is on and there are close to 1000 head of antelope on FE Warren. There is dependent housing on two sides of this area and civilian housing borders the east side. There is a ranch with irrigated land to the north. There is plenty of tall grass to feed on and several lakes, ponds and streams. It was near the stables where there is plenty of hay and grain and the antelope sometimes hit the feed bunks there. There is just no way this guy should be this skinny without being emaciated . The patch of land he is on is well traveled by other antelope and deer. There is overcrowding on the base and this may have contributed to emancipation in some antelope. Residential areas are close by and generally provide plenty of nutritious green grass.
Pronghorn eat forbes.
 
Pronghorn eat forbes.

Preferred food otherwise that is correct. Followed by weeds and grass when forbs are not plentiful. There is a ton of clover that grows wild along the fence lines bordering the housing area and in the pasture to the north. There is also plenty of their preferred foods that grows along the stream that feeds the various ponds to the south end. They also eat on the green grass on FE Warren. Just to the east of where this guy was at in the pasture is some milkweed growing in the drainage ditch. Alfalfa grows wild to the north where the rancher used to grow it. So plenty of food for this guy.
 
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