Aging a buck by his teeth/jaw??

[SHoff10]

I was curious what you all thought about this jaw and teeth? This is from a buck that my buddy shot in NE Kansas this year. He looked super old, but looks can be deceiving. I am not an expert at all judging from the teeth, but he looks to be an old warrior. What are some of your thoughts? He is going to be sending the jaw in to get it aged in a lab, but I was just curious. I didn't know if he wanted his pic shared on the internet so I blurred it out. There are burs all over the antlers and he broke off half of his left antler. We gross scored this buck in the low 130s with having half his antler broke off....probably would have grossed in the mid 140s if he had the entire antler.

Thanks guys,

[muddy]

4.5 years of age. He has some wear on the front molar out two but his back teeth still look plenty sharp. Tartar build up is more significant than I've seen on most 3 year olds, right where I'd expect it for a 4+ year old.

[stash59]

Sounds like Muddy knows what he's talking about. I agree. The overall wear isn't all that significant. So with my limited knowledge. I still know he's not a very old buck. I'd have said 3-4 YO.

Super nice buck!!!! Congrats to your Bud.

[Pager24]

I've done some deer aging for my job in the past, and I would agree with Muddy. While it's always tough to tell from pictures, my best guess would be 4 1/2 yrs. The key is to look at the dentine to enamel to cusp sharpness ratio on the 3-6 molars. While there is a bit more tarter build up than expected for this age deer, I would think there would be a lot more visible wear on the teeth (they would look almost flat) if it were any older. Although the tartar build up could be due to the high grain diet.

Great buck! too bad he lost half his rack- would have made it him all that much better