mountaingoat Report post Posted December 4, 2008 We were stopped on the way off the mountain by a game and fish officer. He did the routine checking of tags and licences. He was a real nice guy. He checked the teeth for the ages of the deer we had taken and told us something that I had not heard of before. As he looked at the teeth he informed us that a little 2x3 was only 1.5 years old, a second larger by 3 times 2x3 was 2.5 years old, a third 2x3 that was about 10 inches smaller than the second was 3.5 years old, and the fourth deer a small 3x3 a little bigger than the first deer was 6 years old. The officer said that he had checked a spike recently that was 8 years old. He said that there is no way to tell the age of coues deer by there horns. After he told us of this we noticed the faces of our deer looked mature according to the years that he had stated. You hear these guys on the hunting videos say that this deer is such and such years old and that one is such and such years old by looking through their binos at the deers horns. Are they full of you know what? or is this ONLY true for coues deer and not neccessarily muleys or eastern white tail? I just thought some of you might not have known this either or can actually shed a little more light on the subject for us....anyone?... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Huntn coues Report post Posted December 4, 2008 I think the guys that guess the ages are looking at the deers overall appearance like a deep chest,pot belly,facial features etc. But maybe they are looking at the horns Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benbrown Report post Posted December 4, 2008 Aging whitetails on the hoof has become a "must-have" skill for wildlife managers, especially those concerned with Quality Deer Management programs. There are at least two books on the subject, complete with pictures, published in Texas. The skill is now being successfully applied to mule deer on QDM ranches in west Texas. Deer definitely have facial and body shape characters that change in a recognizeable way as they age. I hunted with my brother on a ranch that he manages in south-central Texas a few years ago, and he correctly called the ages on the four deer that my grandsons and my nephew took, before they hit the ground. Coues deer hunters don't pay so much attention to exact ages, but I have passed some younger bucks with pretty good antlers because I thought that they would be better in a year or two... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mountaingoat Report post Posted December 4, 2008 I appreciate the info on the subject. Looking at faces and body size has always helped me judge the age of a deer but looking last at the antlers to confirm the age. Maybe i have it just bass-ackwards. The 8 year old spike is what really confused me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lance Report post Posted December 6, 2008 Same goes with people as it does with animals. I am taller and fatter than my dad, but that doesn't make me older. They are just as different as we are but most people just don't think of them that way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coues7 Report post Posted December 6, 2008 It is amazing what happens to animals as they age....alot like humans. We enter life as infants with simple minds and as we get older we return to that. Deer antler growth is pretty much the same.....they grow to totally maturity (some big some small), then go back to simple small beginnings. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
