Robert,

Congratulations on the harvest! Thanks for sending us these great pictures! 

Aging deer by examining the jaw bone is not 100% accurate, nevertheless this method can still provide you with a very good estimate of how old the deer is. We generally start by looking at the fourth tooth from the front, as this is the oldest tooth in a jaw. We are specifically examining the wearing and staining present on the tooth. This tooth has a good amount of staining as well as wear, so we move one more tooth back. This next tooth has staining present, but the wear pattern is not as extreme on this tooth. Noting this and looking over all of the other indicators, I feel very confident this buck is no younger than 3.5, but could have the potential to be 4.5!

Thanks for the great images! 

GrowingDeer together, 

-Matt Dye

2016-01-26