Deer antlers

[Magicman38]

I have recently purchased 80 acres just North of Stonewall,Manitoba. I have seen deer every time I've been there. I found a nice 4x shed and lots of rub.How do I age a deer antler shed?

[bullmoose38]

Well to age a deer by its antlers is pretty tough. You might be able to get within a couple years but thats still even guessing. The only way to really age a deer is by seeing it on hoof. Or by having his bottom jaw to see teeth wear.

[Monie]

Yep. I've seen yearlings and two year olds, on tv, that had the racks of 3 and 4 year olds! Goooood genetics! The jist of the show was that not all yearlings and two year olds are spikes and forkeys.

[youngbuck83]

Like Bull said, the only way to be 100% positive is to have the jaw bone.

[huntingson]

Actually, the jawbone is not 100% and it is virtually impossible to age a deer by its teeth after age 3.5. The only truly accurate way to age a deer is a combination of the jaw and weighing the eye lense. With the jawbone alone you can easily tell a fawn, yearling, and 2.5 year old. Beyond that the only thing you can say with certainty is 3.5+. They tested it with over 1000 biologists and aging a deer beyond 3.5 with just the jaw bone they were only accurate 1/3 of the time.

[Colorado Rick]

I thought you had to cut them in half and count the rings???

[Landon]

Originally Posted by huntingson

weighing the eye lense..

WHat tha?? I never heard of that , that soulds gross. LOL

Anyway , I have never found a jaw bone shed yet.