How To Tell The Age Of Deer
Dental Age Characters Of White-tailed Deer
(Check side of lower molar tooth row)
Deer are aged by examining the teeth of the lower jaw. This is the only accurate field method. Size, color, and antler development may give clues as to general age (young or old), but they are not accurate indicators of age. Fawns can be recognized as long as they retain their spotted coats (3 to 4 months of age), but in november they have gray coats like older deer.
The charts on this page show condition of deer teeth during the November hunting season. Considerable knowledge of the life history of deer is needed to age them at other times of the year.
At birth, fawns have only the front teeth (incisors). Cheek teeth appear during the first month of life. The premolars (the first three cheek teeth) come in first, and additional teeth come in behind them. These first premolars are temporary "baby teeth", and are shed when the deer is about 1 1/2 years old. Thus deer are aged by number of teeth or tooth replacement until they are 19 months old. Older deer are aged by the amount of wear on the cheek teeth.
To use the charts showing dental age characters, you must have a clear view of the cheek teeth on at least one side of the lower jaw. The mouth must be opened as far as possible. A tire tool or other type of pry bar is usually needed. Cutting the cheek muscles provides a clear view of the cheek teeth after the mouth is opened. If the cheek muscles cannot be cut, as on a trophy buck, a flashlight will help in seeing the cheek teeth.
COUNT THE CHEEK TEETH. Fawns have less than six teeth. MOST FAWNS IN NOVEMBER HAVE FOUR CHEEK TEETH, becaues they were born in June and are five months old. They fall, therefore, into the four-seven months age class. Fawns less than four months will have only three cheek teeth, and fawns over seven months will have five cheek teeth.
The front teeth of deer are not important in determining age because all four pairs are replaced by eleven months of age. They do help to break down the four-seven month age class, however, fawns less than five months old have narrow, temporary pincers which are replace at 6-7 months (see circled drawings on Chart 1). The other three pairs of incisors are replaced at 9-11 months.
If there are six cheek teeth, look closely at the third tooth. MOST YEARLINGS IN NOVEMBER HAVE THREE PEAKS ON THE THIRD CHEEK TOOTH. The first three cheek teeth will appear brown and be worn flat on top, in contrast to the sharp white teeth behind them.
Deer in the 19 month class can be confused with 2 1/2 year old deer because both have six permanent cheek teeth which are relatively unworn. However, the 19 month old deer will have no wear on the rear peak of the last tooth, and the first three teeth will be relatively unstained and possibly not fully erupted.
ADULT DEER HAVE ONLY TWO PEAKS ON THE THIRD CHEEK TOOTH. These older deer are aged by the amount of wear on the cheek teeth. About 95 percent of our annual harvest is composed of deer 3 1/2 years or younger, so if you can distinguish fawns, yearlings, 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old deer, you will be able to age most of those you see.
The 2 1/2 year old deer have sharp peaks on all of the cheek teeth and very little wear on the last tooth. The 3 1/2 year olds begin to show wear on the peaks of the fourth tooth, and the peaks will have a brown center. The last cusp on the rear tooth will be worn into a shallow cup shape.
Very old deer are relatively easy to recognize because all the teeth are worn flat and nearly into the gums. It is the deer between 3 1/2 and 6 1/2 years which are difficult to age and require considerable experience.
The aging charts show the amount of wear which is usually found on teeth of deer from southern Missouri. Teeth of deer in northern Missouri will show less wear.
More recently, a technique of aging teeth by cementum annuli counts has been developed. Alternating light and dark layers of cementum can be seen on microscopic sections of deer insicors. These cementum annuli are much like annual rings of trees. The system is more accurate than the method described above. Biologists routinely collect one or both of the center pair of incisors from hunter-killed deer at check stations for age analysis. The preparation of tooth sections is a laboratory procedure and incisors must be routed to the Wildlife Research Center in Columbia for processing.
If you have a question about the age of any individual deer, clean the flesh from the jaw (including front incisors) and sent it to the Fish and Wildlife Research Center, Missouri Department of Conservation, 1110 College Avenue, Columbia, Missouri 65201. We will be glad to give you our opinion.
