How Old Was that Animal?

[antlerradar]

A 160” 3.5 year old is a real shame.

Just my observations over the years anyway.

I will admit my guilt.

 

[Eric Albus]

I do have the 100% confidence. I can hold them and I get to see them in the wild.
If you are ever down in my part of the country, give me a heads up and we will take a few hours in the antler collection.

I’d tend to agree. I’ve seen dramatic changes in antler configuration yr to yr. Best way to tell is pedicle shape, it’s like a finger print. If pedicle shape is the same on all cast antlers, it’s same buck.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

I wish I had known about this long ago. It would've been awesome to know more scientifically how old deer were rather than just guessing, particularly on our bigger ones. Would've also been nice to know on my one antelope since I have no reference to have even an educated guess on it.

Utah moose was aged at 5.5.

I currently have 4 whitetails in getting aged and should get results in February. I am quite certain of one buck's age since I passed him up the year before I shot him. 1 of the others I have a pretty good guess (I feel). The other 2 will be really interesting to see the results. I'll try to post once I actually get the results back.

I really wanted to shoot the buck in the attached pics just to see how old he is, but I had a soft spot in my heart for him and just couldn't do it...so I made him off limits for everybody else too Maybe he's not as old as I think, but I passed him up in 2021, and he already looked ancient then and had the grayest face I've ever seen on a deer. Passed him up again in 2022. Pics don't make him look as old as he looks in person. Doesn't seem to have a saggy back like some people attribute to older bucks, so who knows. Maybe it's just that he's a warrior and very beat up that makes him look old. He got poked in his eye last year, and I think he's blind in the one eye. Recent pics from this year make it look like he's in terrible condition...a busted ear and tongue hanging out oddly and looking oddly colored in a couple of the attached pics. Not sure if he'll make it through winter. If not, hopefully we find his skull so I can get him aged. His antlers don't really reflect a deer with much age in our area. He was about the same size in 2022 as he was in 2021. Antlers are only what I would expect on a bigger 2.5 year old or smaller 3.5 year old. He acted like an old man when I saw him crossing a fence...sat there for several minutes thinking about how he was going to get across rather than just jumping across like most bucks do.

I just got the results back from Matsons for 4 SE Minnesota whitetails. I have to be honest and say that I'm skeptical of some of the results.

This one was aged at 4.5. It's certainly possible. I thought he would either be a very nice 3.5 year old or smaller 4.5 year old but was leaning toward nice 3.5 year old.



Here he was the year before I shot him:

This one was also aged at 4.5. It seems reasonable to me. Some of his body features made me think he COULD be older, but antler-wise seemed to fit in as a 4.5 year old.




This one was also aged at 4.5. I just have a hard time believing it is possible. Everything about this deer screams young deer to me. It was also the smallest body I have ever seen on a buck of any size. It field dressed around 160...soaking wet......whereas most of the deer we get are 200+. I've never seen another buck this size anywhere close to that small. All it's body features looked young. I thought it likely to be 3.5 and would've expected it to be more likely to go down in age rather than up after I got the results.




This one was also aged at 4.5, and that is what I guessed he was.




All of the results stated that they were "A" ages, so supposedly the most reliable. Maybe I have just been poor at judging the ages of our deer.

 

[Big Fin]

Yesterday I got back the results from the rest of our hunts from last season. Some surprises, for sure. Two elk, two Coues deer, and four mule deer.

 

[JCS]

Yesterday I got back the results from the rest of our hunts from last season. Some surprises, for sure. Two elk, two Coues deer, and four mule deer.

Teasing?

 

[Big Fin]

Teasing?

Kind of. We are doing a give away with them that will involve folks guessing how old the animals are that we took in 2022. So, until then, I can't list the ages on any of them.

 

[375H&H]

I just got the results back from Matsons for 4 SE Minnesota whitetails. I have to be honest and say that I'm skeptical of some of the results.

This one was aged at 4.5. It's certainly possible. I thought he would either be a very nice 3.5 year old or smaller 4.5 year old but was leaning toward nice 3.5 year old.

View attachment 264878

Here he was the year before I shot him:

This one was also aged at 4.5. It seems reasonable to me. Some of his body features made me think he COULD be older, but antler-wise seemed to fit in as a 4.5 year old.

View attachment 264879


This one was also aged at 4.5. I just have a hard time believing it is possible. Everything about this deer screams young deer to me. It was also the smallest body I have ever seen on a buck of any size. It field dressed around 160...soaking wet......whereas most of the deer we get are 200+. I've never seen another buck this size anywhere close to that small. All it's body features looked young. I thought it likely to be 3.5 and would've expected it to be more likely to go down in age rather than up after I got the results.

View attachment 264880


This one was also aged at 4.5, and that is what I guessed he was.

View attachment 264881


All of the results stated that they were "A" ages, so supposedly the most reliable. Maybe I have just been poor at judging the ages of our deer.

Being only one year off from your claims is quite accurate. Most places claim +-1 year.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

Being only one year off from your claims is quite accurate. Most places claim +-1 year.

I suppose this is true. It is also possible the results are 100% correct, and my guess is just off.

 

[dandredeshon]

I've always been fascinated by the stories we can learn about the animals we take. I think that is what intrigues me most about antlers, hides, scars, etc.

For the last few years I've been taking the teeth of animals to Matson's Lab in Manhattan, Montana. They can age animals for you and it gives you an idea of what that animal has lived through.

The two Wyoming bucks I shot in 2019 and 2020 both survived the brutal winter of 2016-17. I have confirmed that via aging of the animal by dropping off the teeth at Matson's. Now I am even more fascinated that I took one on its way to the winter range and one near the summer range, both from the same herd that makes huge migrations through some very difficult conditions. Amazing that they make this trek for the risk-reward benefits of better summer forage up high and better wintering conditions down in the edges of the Red Desert.

Here is a video that goes into a lot more details.

If you are interested in learning more about the animals you take, go to this link on their website - https://matsonslab.com/age-your-game/

.

 

[Firedude]

Not sure of age on this one. But I think you'll like it because you mentioned scars and such. I shot it 2 years ago. 4X2 and on the 2 side it's got 3 kickers by the ear. Fish and game listed it as a 4X5.



But look at the skull. The thing survived being bit in the head.



That one hole goes all the way through into the brain. The red circles are canine bites and the blue is a molar scrape. My bear skull lines up pretty close but I think it may have been a lion attack. Looked to be a while before I shot it. The bone was pretty healed.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

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[BuzzH]

5 years old from the lab.

 

[Sask hunter]

Just got back my WT from last fall. He was 4.5. And my 2nd spring black bear was 5.5. That was a bit shocking as he had a bigger skull then my first spring bear that was 2 years older

 

[BuzzH]

Got the results from the lab on this cow I shot last fall, 14 years old.

Ivories:

 

[thomas89]

Got the results from the lab on this cow I shot last fall, 14 years old.

Ivories:

Buzz how has she been eating? Thoroughly enjoying my 3.5 and 1.5 year old cows, curious how a cow that old would eat!

 

[BuzzH]

Buzz how has she been eating? Thoroughly enjoying my 3.5 and 1.5 year old cows, curious how a cow that old would eat!

Just like any other elk.

 

[TheTone]

Thoughts on this? I’d say there is way more contradictory info out there but I’m also not an influencer with 70 thousand followers

 

[BuzzH]

View attachment 275446
Thoughts on this? I’d say there is way more contradictory info out there but I’m also not an influencer with 70 thousand followers

If bullshit were music, that guy would be John Phillip Sousa.

 

[DFS]

Montana fwp has told me deer peak at 4 years old. They are wrong.

 

[GrantK]

If you want to really dig into some dry reading check this one out...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235886473_Long-Lasting_Effects_of_Maternal_Condition_in_Free-Ranging_Cervids#pf7

or check out page 31 of Utah's statewide management plan, https://wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings/rac_minutes/2022-11-elk-management-plan.pdf

essentially growth is rapid to 6.5 in elk, 4.5 in mule deer, then slows considerably...