2013 Buck Aging

[James]

It's that time of year again. I did this last year, and I think it was a lot of fun, but more importantly I hope everyone learned a little about antler size and score, weight and how it all relates to deer age. For those of you not familiar, here is the post from last year. What I do is save the front teeth from the bucks that friends and I shoot throughout the season. Once the season starts winding down we'll send them in to Matson's laboratory in Montana. There, they will use a scientific process to age the deer and confirm with near 100% accuracy what the age of our deer was. (more here http://www.matsonslab.com ). Now, I know it's a bit earlier this year and hopefully we'll be adding a few more bucks to this list, but I already have teeth from more bucks than we did last year.

I think it would make a fun contest, but I don't have any prizes or anything formal, so for now you'll just get the honor of being able to age deer well based on stats and photos Place your guesses along with any other comments in the order the bucks are listed here. My apologies for not having consistent stats on all of the bucks here, I was not along for the ride on all of them, so I could not ensure all of the bucks got weighed. In addition to just guessing the age of these bucks I am hoping this post will serve as a good discussion fodder for aging deer. We typically hae a lot of discussion on the beast regarding "mature" deer.

Arrowbender's Split Brow, MN Archery 12 Point
Gross Score: 140 2/8",
Weight: Not weight
Harvest Date: 9-18-2013
Conditions: killed on private farm land, easy access to food (corn, beans, acorns)



James' WI Archery 8, "The Fighter"
Gross Score: 127 3/8"
Weight: 220lbs dressed
Harvest Date: 10-26-2013
Conditions: killed on private farm land (hill country), easy access to corn, beans.




AC Rider's MN Archery 8
Gross Score: 116 1/8"
Weight: No Weight
Harvest Date: 10-28-2013
Conditions: killed on private farm land (hill country), easy access to corn, beans.


Boo's MN Archery 8, "Spider"
Gross Score: 122 5/8"
Weight: 205lbs dressed
Harvest Date: 11-7-2013
Conditions: killed on private farm land (hill country), easy access to corn, beans. Same farm as AC Rider's buck


James' In-Law's MN Muzzeloader Buck, 10 Point
Gross Score: 152 5/8"
Weight: 188lbs dressed
Harvest Date: 11-16-2013
Conditions: killed on public land (marsh), moderate access to corn, beans.

[James]

Here are 3 of the bucks hanging, I believe that you get to see the overall size of the deer better when they are hanging.

Arrowbender


James


James' BIL

[Edcyclopedia]

Love the post and great job by your contributors!!!

The prize should be offered to you for your efforts - thanks for your time!

[Dewey]

I guessed them all right last year so lets see how lucky I get this time!

3,3,2,2,4

[dan]

Arrowbender 3 y/o
James 4 y/o
ACrider 3 y/o
Boo 4 y/o
james BIL 3 Y/O

[adrenalin]

3
4
3
3
4

[SamPotter]

2
5
3
3
3

[Edcyclopedia]

4
5
3
3
4

[James]

I left yearling (1yo) off the poll but if someone thinks there is a yearling in there just holler. I also stopped at 5 because at that point it's silly stating something specific based on the evidence here.

[James]

I'll make sure the teeth get into Matson's first batch which means I should have results back around March or April. For those of you who geek out over this like me, here is a photo of the slides from last years process (I pay to get them back). You can't count rings here but even a weak microscope does the trick.

[James]

Boo had his weighed and I didn't post that. 205 lbs dressed, sorry if that screwed up anyones guesses.

[Stanley]

I always age by half years at even years the racks would much smaller and in velvet or nubs.


3.5
3.5
3.5
4.5
3.5

[BassBoysLLP]

2
3
2
2
4

[ Post made via Android ]

[Bucky]

4, 3, 2, 5+, 4 or5

[ Post made via Android ]

[AC Rider]

3, 4, 3, 3, 3 (of course they're half years )