Aging the deer you shoot.

If you are serious about looking for a way to increase the challenge of the sport, it makes sense to start hunting bucks that are one year older than those most archery hunters shoot in your area. This will assure that you will always be challenged but not discouraged. By setting your personal bar just a notch higher you still have a realistic chance for success but you extend your season and learn more about the deer you hunt. It is hard to study behavior when you shoot the first buck that walks past, tag it and then go back to watching football on TV.

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If most of the hunters in your area shoot 1.5 year-old bucks, it is a worthy goal to set your sights on 2.5 year-old bucks. Don't get caught in the trap of trying to shoot bucks with a certain antler size. Antler size is only a small part of what makes a trophy. Honestly, age has a lot more to do with it. The older a buck gets, the harder it is to shoot him and that is what truly makes him a trophy.

Assuming that you are ready to start hunting bucks that are one year older, it makes sense to get some feedback after the fact to help you learn whether the buck you shot fits the bill or not. In the September 2006 Whitetails Column I wrote about ways to age bucks on the hoof. That is good information to be sure, but the only way you will become better at aging live deer is to get feedback whenever you shoot one. In other words, it is one thing to think a buck is 3.5 years old and another to know it is.

Cementum Annuli Aging

There are two basic methods for aging the bucks you shoot. The cementum annuli method requires that you remove the two center teeth from the front of the lower jaw. Some call these the incisors. You send them into a lab that specializes in sectioning the teeth and studying them under a microscope to determine age. It is similar to the way you can judge the age of a tree by counting its rings.

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Cementum annuli aging is widely considered the most accurate method. The cost is typically around $40 to $50 per deer. If you are serious about bowhunting this is a good investment. It is even better if you can talk your buddies into doing it also. The more bucks you are able to age accurately, the better you will all become at judging them on the hoof.

The two most commonly used aging labs are Wildlife Analytical Labs (www.deerage.com; [phone]) and Matson's Lab, (www.matsonslab.com; [phone]). Both offer convenient mail-in services.

Tooth Wear Aging

When you take a buck to the check station and someone looks in his mouth, you can be sure that person is trying to estimate the age of the buck. Although the amount of wear varies from region to region, deer typically have a consistent wear pattern as they grow older. The cusps on certain teeth typically wear off at a certain age. The amount of dentin that appears on the crown of each tooth increases as it wears down, giving you a fairly accurate basis for estimating age.

The tooth wear method is fast, simple and inexpensive. The tools and educational materials available will help you ramp up your abilities very quickly. There is no reason not to become an expert at it.

This past season I shot a dandy buck. I tried to talk myself into believing he was a fully mature buck, but deep down inside I really feared that I had shot a young buck with awesome genetic potential. I saved the lower jawbone and set it on my workbench. I knew what I thought, but I needed a second opinion. The local game warden dropped by a few days later with a set of flashcards that he placed next to the jawbone. After comparing the two for a few minutes, he was certain the buck was 3.5 years old. That was my fear. Though he was a good buck, I had actually shot him one year shy of being a true monster.

In many areas my "error" would be irrelevant--the buck likely wouldn't have lived through the next gun season anyway. However, where I was hunting there are just enough like-minded deer hunters that it is possible to get them to 4.5 years old occasionally. That is when they often make their biggest jump in antler size--from 3.5 to 4.5. Though it confirmed my error in judgement, it was important to have the feedback as a learning event. The more opportunities we have to learn about deer, the better we will become as stewards of the resource.

Tip of the Month: You can get a set of flashcards, called the Pocket Deer Aging Tool, very inexpensively from Wildlife Enterprises (www.wildlifeenterprises.com; [phone]). Comparing the cards to the lower jaw of the buck you shoot, you can easily determine his age. Another excellent tool for this purpose is the Deer Aging Tool. It is a cast 3-D set of jawbones showing the exact tooth wear patterns from bucks ranging from 1.5 to 8.5 years of age. You can quickly lay the tool next to a jawbone for handy reference. The Deer Aging Tool is available at www.howtoagedeer.com [phone]; or at (www.deeragingtool.com; [phone]).