Anyone cementum age their deer?

[dipper]

Will you continue? Is it valued in your management? Do you care?

 

[bueller]

If I ever should an old buck I may send a tooth in.

 

[John-W-WI]

Me too... Never shot one old enough... At least I didn't think so. Later I found sheds that make me think one of the bucks I shot was much older than I thought.

Anything that goes on the wall from this point forward will get a tooth sent in.

-John

 

[strawhead]

Yes, anything we shoot or find gets CA. 3 sent in since 2012 and 3 going in this year. The deer we pursue have antler and body development well below what most on here would believe. For us it seems to reinforce our opinions of the bucks slow development.

 

[Tree Spud]

Have not sent a tooth in yet. Have saved the jaws from last 3 bucks I shot.

What is involved in cementum aging and who would you recommend?

 

[strawhead]

Its a pretty simple process. Just have to remove the bottom 2 incisors. They explain it on the website. Tooth with root needs to be intact. We use http://ageyourdeer.com/. They aren't fast. Takes about 6mos. I think. There are others out there I know. This one is out of MI.

 

[MN Slick]

My neighbor and I have sent teeth from 6 bucks to Matson's Lab since 2013. 4 more sets of choppers are going to them this year. I'm hoping to get better at aging the on the hoof but to date I still find it difficult to age them over 2.5 unless I have history. My theory is just like humans bucks have different body types so I'm not sure one can be very accurate judging by their bodies once they are 3.5 plus. I thought for sure 3 bucks that grossed over 140 were 4.5 or older but they were aged at 3.5. The buck I shot in 2013 was a geezer at 7.5 years old.

 

[Bill]

I sent in teeth from every deer killed at our place this year.

My brother and I have different estimates on each buck taken. It will be interesting to see who's closer.
The plan is to always age like this so we know for sure what we're killing.

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

I sent in both the Bucks I have had mounted in the last 5 years. The one I guessed was 3 1/2 turned out to be only 2 1/2. That was quite the surprise. Can't even imagine how big he would have been by the next year. However it was nice to know exactly how old it was. Was spot on for age on the other 3 1/2 year buck.

 

[Trophy Collector]

How much does that cost per deer?

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

We send in teeth for CA aging on every buck we shoot - probably over a dozen bucks from MN and WI in the past few years. For us it has been quite an eye opener and it showed that there plenty of old bucks just don't have the genes to make it to even P&Y class. Sending in teeth for CA aging is a great way to get better at aging bucks on the hoof since you will have firm data telling you the age of the deer you killed. We use www.deerage.com and have been happy with the results - it's $25 well spent in my opinion.

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

I thought it was $15 but $25 is probably what it was. My taxidermist just added it to the bill.

 

[Bill]

We always spring for the certificate to hang under the mount.
Probably something you makeup and print yourself and save the extra $15.

 

[Trophy Collector]

Just sent some teeth to Michigan yesterday to the Whitetail Lab. Can't wait for the results.

 

[shawnv]

I've heard these tests still are not as accurate some may think so I'm not sure there is an absolute way to know other than having history with a deer over the years. It might be interesting stuff to know, just hope anyone who does this and finds out their deer was younger than they thought ends up regretting the hunt they previously enjoyed and had fond memories of.

 

[Buckly]

What have you heard as to why they are not accurate?

 

[shawnv]

What have you heard as to why they are not accurate?

I cannot recall where I've read about the accuracy but the author was saying based on deer they knew the age of and the test it was more in the 80% range. My point was I think some assume these results are 99.9% dead on when it's not always going to be the case.