How to Age Deer by Their Teeth and Jawbone

Tooth wear and replacement is one of several methods for aging white-tailed deer. Deer are aged by examining the wear and replacement of the
premolars and molars of the lower jaw. As a deer grows older, its teeth
continue to wear. As the enamel begins to wear away and exposes the
dark dentine material, noticeable distinctions in tooth wear occur between
each age class. Deer are aged in year and a half increments, such as
1 1/2 or 1.5 , 2 1/2 or 2.5, 3 1/2 or 3.5, etc., since fawns are born from late May through July and are not harvested until the fall hunting season.

Biologists, landowners or land managers may be interested in deer ages
from a deer management standpoint. Age data provides information about
deer herd characteristics, hunting or mortality pressure on a particular age
class, and progress of the wildlife management program. Age data
becomes a valuable piece of information when used with other data such as
antler characteristics, dressed body weights or lactation in females. Deer
herd trends can thus be monitored if enough data is collected over time.

Often these trends can be related to a particular management style, climatic
conditions or any other factors affecting deer. Dressed body weights, age
and antler measurement data should be collected every year and from
every deer harvested. Collecting partial data, only occasionally during a
season, or every couple of years may result in land managers making
uninformed decisions about deer management.

This video is Part 2 of a two-part series where I discuss how to age a deer through their teeth, tooth wear or jawbone, however you want to look at it. In the end, this is not always a guarantee and the only way to get the most accurate age is through Cementum Annuli and I also have a video on that as well!