Age of deer


AaronS

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Re: Age of deer

Depends if you are judging him alive or dead.If the deer is dead check the teeth for wear.If he is alive there are many things to look for to inducate the approximate age.Yearlings and 1 1/2 year old have a small body and long legs,the legs look too long compared to the body.They also have a long skinny neck.Mature deer have a deep chest and a very muscular neck.The body looks like a even block.Older class bucks will have a sway back and pot belly.You may also see a sort of saggy looking face.There is no way to judge a deer by his rack.About all you can do is think small rack young deer,large rack an older deer.Even that is not accurate.

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Re: Age of deer

I field judge a deer based on the body. I started learning by watching deer more closely and looking at pics, posting pics in here asking for opinions and such. Really there is some good indicators of age in looking at a buck in the neck and chest area as it tapers back. If the deer looks blocky he is likely a mature deer. If behind the shoulders it tapers back more and the neck looks thin and long it is a pretty good indication he is a young deer.

There are some good field judging pics here tndeer/fieldjudging

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Re: Age of deer

Field judging you can look at its belly, shoulders, haunches, and some say the nose. If any of them look really full, you're probably looking at a 4 or 5 year old deer.

Most deer you see will be 1 or 2 year olds. They will be more slender, not as muscled in the shoulders, and haunch, the neck will be slimmer too. Their bellys typically don't sag and in fact many times actually angle up towards the back end.

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Re: Age of deer

[ QUOTE ]

Isn't there teeth the best way to figure out age?

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Yes it is, but you cannot check their teeth while they are walking around or coming through the woods to"field judge" a deer. Checking the teeth after killing a deer is pretty simple and is pretty accurate.

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