aging deer

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magicman54494
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aging deer

Unread postby magicman54494 » Sat Dec 29, 2012 4:24 am

I know you can guess by tooth wear and there is a way of cutting a tooth or jaw bone to get an exact age? Who does this and what does it cost? I have a deer that I'd like to get an exact age on.


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Re: aging deer

Unread postby bblefty » Sat Dec 29, 2012 4:38 am

One of the best parts of the Lakosky book spent a lot on aging deer on the hoof. 5yo's have that cinder block body (rectangular). I almost always look at the neck first. The most confusing part is taking the region into account. A 3 yo up north has a way bigger neck than most 4 and 5 yo in South Carolina.

I couldn't find much information on where to send the jaw bones and cost.
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Re: aging deer

Unread postby Hill Hunter » Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:06 am

deerage.com, they use the cementum annuli method, which to my understanding is the most accurate. Their web site has directions for tooth removal, they use the two front teeth from the lower jaw. Last time I did it, they charged $20. Hope that helps
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magicman54494
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Re: aging deer

Unread postby magicman54494 » Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:26 am

Hill Hunter wrote:deerage.com, they use the cementum annuli method, which to my understanding is the most accurate. Their web site has directions for tooth removal, they use the two front teeth from the lower jaw. Last time I did it, they charged $20. Hope that helps


Thanks, Cool web site and quite a process to determine age! I'd like to get my last deer aged because there are things about him that make him seem like he could be 3 and things that make me think he could be as old as 5. It would be cool to know for sure.
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Re: aging deer

Unread postby phade » Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:58 am

You can do this at home if you want to save some money, although we're not trained scientists or techs.

Split that tooth and stain it with Coke or Pepsi. The rings will appear nice and dark. Count the rings and you have the age that Deer Age will supply you with.
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magicman54494
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Re: aging deer

Unread postby magicman54494 » Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:27 am

phade wrote:You can do this at home if you want to save some money, although we're not trained scientists or techs.

Split that tooth and stain it with Coke or Pepsi. The rings will appear nice and dark. Count the rings and you have the age that Deer Age will supply you with.


Can you explain the process with more detail?
How do I split the tooth?
how do I stain the tooth with coke?
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Re: aging deer

Unread postby RED OAK » Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:21 am

I have had great experiences with deerage.com over the past 4 years. Great people to work with. It does cost money and it does take some time to get results back but I send in most bucks taken from our group every year and I believe it makes you better at aging bucks in your own geography. I have had a few age surprises on bucks we have sent in. Im not to sure about the split tooth and use of coke idea. I will however try it on something the next chance to I get.

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Re: aging deer

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:05 am

phade wrote:You can do this at home if you want to save some money, although we're not trained scientists or techs.

Split that tooth and stain it with Coke or Pepsi. The rings will appear nice and dark. Count the rings and you have the age that Deer Age will supply you with.


Did you stay @ a [glow=red]Holiday Inn Express[/glow]last night or somethin? :mrgreen:

Good info - I'm going to give it a go next time I get a deer! Thanks...
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Re: aging deer

Unread postby phade » Sat Dec 29, 2012 1:32 pm

Ok, take one of the lower front teeth including root and split it vertically. Take half and dip in food coloring of a dark color. Arguably it is better than soda . You will see small rings stand out with the dye. Each ring is a year. Three rings is a 3.5. The rings form along the same lines as a tree, representing a growing season. In layman terms.

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Re: aging deer

Unread postby PLB » Sat Dec 29, 2012 1:52 pm

Thanks for the cool tip phade!! I would love to try this!! In fact I have the jawbone from my public land Slob laying around somewhere. What do you use to cut the tooth in half if I may ask???

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Re: aging deer

Unread postby Ridgerunner7 » Sat Dec 29, 2012 3:01 pm

I believe centium annuli aging is like 80% (estimation) accurate. I've sent in 12+ deer and although I don't think they have ever been more than one year off on their age I know for a fact several have not been right. I since dont send in unless I'm really unsure. It's not exact.. And they will admit that.

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Re: aging deer

Unread postby phade » Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:54 am

Public Land Beast wrote:Thanks for the cool tip phade!! I would love to try this!! In fact I have the jawbone from my public land Slob laying around somewhere. What do you use to cut the tooth in half if I may ask???

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You look like the kind of guy with a workshop, vices, and various cutting tools. I've used real fine finishing saws for trim with success.

Having said that, I generally send in my older bucks. I've messed up cutting one tooth before and I don't want to risk that when I'm looking at an older buck.

If I have enough free time post season, I'll tinker with the testing using a suspected old nanny tooth.

Ridge, the reason why it can be off a bit is because the rings can form improperly (ie creating a ring prematurely) based on a harsh environmental condition. I'll have to read up on it again, but a drought or a cold snap at the wrong time of the season can cause this problem. I have to assume in instances you know of the buck being off a year, that there was a significant weather pattern that was longer-term to cause the rings to generate falsely at some point in his years.

The latin term for it as you noted, is an annual ring based assessment.
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Re: aging deer

Unread postby James » Sun Dec 30, 2012 11:52 am

You cannot see the rings by staining with Pepsi. I'm sorry. I use Matsons Laboratory out of Montana. Even with a rush fee paid the fastest they can possibly do it is in 6 weeks. They use a microscope and it requires a piece of lab equipment that takes a slice of the incisor root a few microns thick. Deerage.com uses the same process but they are a little more spendy and take slightly longer. Send your teeth in now because I believe Matson's laboratory's early season batch is due by Jan 10. I think you get results by late March.

http://www.matsonslab.com

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Re: aging deer

Unread postby phade » Sun Dec 30, 2012 2:10 pm

James wrote:You cannot see the rings by staining with Pepsi. I'm sorry. I use Matsons Laboratory out of Montana. Even with a rush fee paid the fastest they can possibly do it is in 6 weeks. They use a microscope and it requires a piece of lab equipment that takes a slice of the incisor root a few microns thick. Deerage.com uses the same process but they are a little more spendy and take slightly longer. Send your teeth in now because I believe Matson's laboratory's early season batch is due by Jan 10. I think you get results by late March.

http://www.matsonslab.com

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Ever see someone's front teeth who drinks a ton of soda? Look close and you can see the striations in their teeth because the soda takes to the different ridges. The same thing happens with the split portion of the tooth as the coloration differs between the rings.

Matson and Deerage.com are the only two that do it for the public - and they do a great job at it, and at selling the kool-aid so to speak. The reason they take the slice a few microns thick is so they can backlight it under magnification to discern with the highest level of accuracy (70-90% on average). It really is not rocket science.
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Re: aging deer

Unread postby UntouchableNess » Sun Dec 30, 2012 2:27 pm

James wrote:You cannot see the rings by staining with Pepsi. I'm sorry. I use Matsons Laboratory out of Montana. Even with a rush fee paid the fastest they can possibly do it is in 6 weeks. They use a microscope and it requires a piece of lab equipment that takes a slice of the incisor root a few microns thick. Deerage.com uses the same process but they are a little more spendy and take slightly longer. Send your teeth in now because I believe Matson's laboratory's early season batch is due by Jan 10. I think you get results by late March.

I work in a lab that has the ability to do this, but not at the price these labs offer (meaning that we are more expensive ;) ).

I processed a tooth once for a friend and took some pics, have them somewhere, but it doesn't really matter, as I don't consider myself "qualified" to age a deer based on tooth rings.


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